LIBRARY Of" ' DhlGRESS. 

irr^irs — 

Shell ,4^.7 W3 

UNITE! STATES OF AMERICA. 



MOODY 



VERSUS 



Christ and His Apostles. 

A TIMM€A1PI®H 

— OF — 

THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL. 

BY 

JOHN TOMLINE WALSH. 

ALSO, A CHAPTER ON 



BY 



Joseph H. Foy, 






ST. LOUIS: 

JOHN BUENS, Publisher, 

1880, 



\r 







Copyrighted by 

JOHN BURNS, 

1880. 



Stereotyped by St. Louis Type Foundey, 



MONODY 



r 



VERSUS 



Christ and His Apostles 



*■ 



PRELUDE. 



Mr. D. L. Moody has almost a world-Avide reputa- 
tion as a revivalist. He is well-known as such in 
Great Britain and America. In many cities of the 
United States, his name is a household word. Thou- 
sands have attended his preaching, and many have 
professed " conversion '' at his meetings. These 
things being so, it will not be thought strange that 
public attention should be directed to him through 
the press. Indeed, many of his sermons have been 
reported and published by the secular press, and, in 
this way, as well as in books, they have become pub- 
lic property; and as such, are legitimate subjects of 
criticism. And this is the work to which I shall de- 
vote these pages. I think Mr. Moody has done 
good, and I award to him all honesty and sincerity of 
heart and purpose. But, while cheerfully conceding 
this, I think he has failed, signally failed to " declare 
the whole counsel of God,'' and hence, his good is 
mixed with much evil. In this examination of his 



Iv PRELtJDE. 

preacMng and teaching, it will be my pleasure to give 
him credit where credit is due, and where the word of 
God compels me to differ from him, the same honesty 
and sincerity of heart and purpose I concede to him, 
will constrain me to expose error and to vindicate 
the truth as it is in Jesus Christ. 

With these preliminary words, I will enter at once 
upon the work before me, by directing attention to 
Mr. Moody's position on the word of God. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE WORD OF GOD. 



Mr. Moody seems to have a knowledge of God's 
word, and to revere its teaching. In one of his ser- 
mons on Faith, he uses this language : 

'*Now, God is not a man that He shouUnie. Has he not 
said it, and shall He not make it good? I may disappoint 
myself; djv own l)eart may deceive me, but God never can 
deceive me; an(J, as some one has said, they know more about 
God's heart than they do about their own; liow true it is ! God 
has been true these G,000 years. Men are untrue everywhere 
away from God, but God, all these G,000 years, has been True 
TO His Word." 

Now, the sentence which closes the above para- 
graph, is a noble one. God has always been, and 
ever will be, " true to His Word ;'' but men have often 
been false to themselves, and untrue to God and His 
word; and whether Mr. Moody is an exception to this 
just censure will be seen hereafter. But let us hear 
Mr. Moody again: 

'' Now I hear some people talking about faith— the faith that 
thej^ have for somethings, and I tremble because they have not 
got any vw;rrant in the woi^d of God. What do I mean by that? I 
mean if I should take 300 men with empty pitchers, and with 
lights in their pitchers to go out and meet a great army (as 
Gideon met the Midianites), without a direct command from God, I 
would be thrashed. That is all; they would rout me. But 



6 MOODY VERSUS CH^ISI? 

Gideon bad a warrant. He had God's Word. He told him U> 
go; that was enough; and when we find in the Scriptures, 
*Thus saith the Lord,' that is enough; that is our warrant; there 
we have it right in God's word, and all we have to do is to come 
to Christ." 

In the above quotation, the italics and capitals are 
mine, to call special attention to the language used 
by Mr. Moody. I am glad to be able to place him so 
emphatically on the side of God's word, and I shall 
•have occasion, in the course of this review, to refer 
again to these emphatic declarations. 

The word of God is the only divine rule of our faith 
and practice, as I shall now proceed to demonstrate. 
God said to Moses : " But the prophet (or teacher) 
which shall presume to speak a word in My name, 
which I have not commanded him to spealc, or that shall 
speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet 
shall die.'^ Deut. xviii : 20. Again : " What things 
soever I command you, observe to do it : thou shalt 
not add thereto, nor diminish from it.'' Deut. xii: 
32. Again : " Every word of God is pure." " Add 
thou not unto his words, lest He reprove thee, and 
thou be found a liar." Prov. xxx : 5, 6. It is a fear- 
ful thing to " add " to God's word, and an equally 
fearful thing to " diminish " from it. To do either is 
a daring and presumptuous sin. David says, " For- 
ever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven." Ps. 
cxix : 89. 

When a man "rejects the word of the Lord, what 
wisdom is in him?" Jer. viii: 9. Well might God 
say by his prophet : '' The prophet that hath a dream, 
let Mm tell a dream ; and he that hath my word, let 



AND HIS APOSTLES. T 

him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaflf to 
the wheat ? saith the Lord. Is not my word like as a 
fire ? saith the Lord ; and like a hammer that breaketh 
the rock in pieces ? '' Jer. xxiii : 28, 29. 

If religious teachers have " dreams " to tell, let 
them tell them as dreams, and not seek to impress 
upon the minds of the people that they are revela- 
tions from God. The people as a general thing, do 
not know enough about the word of God to discrimi- 
nate between his teaching and the teaching of men. 
between the inspired and life-giving words of Jesus, 
and the wild and fanatical utterances of some enthu- 
siastic speaker, whose imagination has been fired^ 
but not from the "altar of God." 

Passing to the New Testament, we have the divincf 
utterances of " that prophet^^^ who is greater than 
Moses, David, Isaiah or Jeremiah. Let us "hear 
Him,'' for He " speaks as one having authority '' to 
speak, "and not as the Scribes.'' "For He, whom 
God hath sent, speaketh the words of God ; for God 
giveth not the spirit by measure unto Him." John 
iii : 34. Let it be specially noted that Jesus Christ, 
whom the Father sent into the world as His Apostle, 

"speaks the words of god." 

And let it be further noted, that " a man can receive 
nothing except it be given him from heaven." John 
iii : 27. Keeping these important statements in mind, 
we shall be careful to try every man's teaching and 
preaching of what sort it is, and to discriminate be- 
tween that which comes from heaven and that which 
emanates ftom men, ^^ AH Scripture,^yen by insgi^ 



8 MOODY VERSUS CHKIST 

ration of God, is profitable for doctrine (teaching), 
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in right- 
eousness ; that the man of God may be perfect, 
thoroughly furnished unto all good works.'' II. Tim. 
iii: 16,17. 

May we not, then, justly claim that the Scriptures 
inspired of God are an all-sufficient rule of faith and 
practice, i^ote the following important statements 
of the Apostle : 1. The Scriptures are inspired of 
God. 2. They are profitable for doctrine or teaching. 
3. For reproof. 4. For correction. 5. For instruc- 
tion in righteousness. 6. Then follows their grand 
design : That the man of God may be perfect, thor- 
oughly furnished unto all good works. Can anything 
else be needed? Does the church of God or the 
world require anything else ? If the Scriptures can 
make the man of God perfect, and completely fit him 
for every good worJc, all other things, as rules of faith 
and practice, must be superfluous. Again: What 
more reasonable than this, that as we are to be judged 
by the word of God as a rule in the last day, we 
should govern ourselves by its teaching in this life ? 
Jesus says: "The words which I have spoken, the 
same shall judge you in the last day." John xii : 48, 

This is a " thus saith the Lord," which makes the 
word of God, the infallible rule of life and of judg- 
ment. Truly, "the word of God is living and power- 
ful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and 
piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and 
spirit, and of the joints and marrow, aiid passing 
judgment on the tlioiujlUs and intents of the heart/' 
geb, iv : 12, as rendered by Dr. Jacob. 



AND HIS APOSTLES* 9 

"The Holy Scriptures are able to inak^ us wise 
unto salvation, through faith, which is in Christ 
Jesus;'' a7id. he who preaches must "preach the 
word.'' 7Lhus ho charges Timothy : " I charge theCj 
therefore, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, 
who shall judge the quick and the dead at his ap- 
pearing and his kingdom ; 

PEEACH THE WORD. 

Be instant in season ; out of season ; reprove, rebuke, 
exhort, with all long suffering and doctrine "—teach- 
ing. "For the time will come when they will not 
endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts 
shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching 
ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the 
truth, and shall be turned unto fables." II. Tim. iv: 
1-4. 

In the above quotation the words "thee'? and 
"their" in italics, have no corresponding words iu 
jbhe Greek. The charge is a general one, applicable 
not only to Timothy but to all who preach. And the 
false teachers and the taught not only turn away 
their own ears from the truth, but the ears of other 
people ; and the ears of all are in this way " turned 
unto fables." 

M^ny men claim that they are " called to preach," 
that "the Holy Spirit moves them to preach." It is 
a pertinent and important question to ask, to preach 
what f Are they simply " called to preach^^^ without 
any regard to what they are to preach ? Is it left 
optional with them what they preach? M^y they 
preach what they please without any regard to the 



10 MOODY TERStJS CHRIST 

authority of Jesus Christ ? I venture to affirm that 

God never cklled a man to preach anything but His 

own eternal truth, nor did the Holy Spirit ever move 

any one to preach a spurious or perverted gospel. 

When God called Jonah, He said to him : " Go preach 

the preaching I bid thee.'' As God's messenger, he 

must deliver God's message, and not one of his own! 

And so now, if God calls, or the Spirit moves persons 

to preach, they must, as God's ministers, deliver 

God's message to men ; not a part of it, but the whole 

of it — " the whole counsel of God ; " and if they fail 

to do this they give proof either that they are not 

called, or, if called, that they are perverting God's 

message by adding to it or taking from it. When 

God calls men he does not merely call them to 

preach, but to " preach the word ; " nothing more, 

and nothing less. Paul said : " Woe is me if I preach 

not the Gospel;" not "woe is me if I preach not/^ 

but "woe is me if I preach not the Gospel." So, if we 

have any duty in the premises, our mission is not 

merely to preach, but to " preach the wokd." 

Let me now direct attention to what Mr. Moody 

rsays about 

dead creeds. 

He says : 

^' We must know who we believe ; we must know what we 
believe, and we must know that that belief is in a risen Christ, 
not some dead doctrine, not some dead creed, not in some the- 
ology. We have got to look away from all these things to 
Christ." 

Mr. Moody's language is neither grammatical nor or- 
nate, but the thoughts expressed above, have the right 



AND HIS APOSTLES. 11 

ring. True, we do not know exactly what he ilieans 
by " dead doctrine,'^ " dead creed," and " dead the- 
ology.'^ And it would be interesting for him to 
explain more fully to what "doctrine," " creed," and 
''theology" he has reference; and all of which he 
characterizes as "dead." And how did these re- 
marks fall upon the ears of those sober Presbyterians 
assembled in the Fourteenth Street Presbyterian 
Church, St. Louis, Mo. Perhaps he did not mean to 
apply the term " dead doctrine " to the " Five points 
of Calvinism," nor to the "Five points of Arminian- 
ism." And, then, as to the "dead creed" and the 
"dead theology," what pf them? Did he refer to 
that venerable old creed, "the Presbyterian Confes- 
sion of Faith," or to the "Thirty-nine Articles of the 
Church of England ? " In short, did he not burn his 
own fingers in thus denouncing the household gods 
of the various " evangelical (?) denominations ? " Be 
all this as it may, there are, in the estimation of Mr. 
Moody, some "doctrines," "creeds" and "theolo- 
gies " that are " dead," and I am glad of it, and would 
'add, let them be buried, for by this time their odor 
is offensive. 

Creeds are the organic or constitutional laws of 
sects or denominations, without which the sect or 
denomination would have no separate and independ- 
ent existence. This is an important truth, and de- 
mands an emphatic utterance. Take any sect or 
denomination in the world, and destroy or abolish 
the human creed or organic law which holds it 
together and gives it a separate and an independ- 
ent existence, and it would cease at once to be a sect 



12 MOODY VERSUS CHRIST. 

or denomination. The creed or organic law of the 
Episcopal Church, is in the prayer book. The creed 
or organic law of the Methodist Episcopal Church is 
contained in the discipline. And this is true of all 
other denominations and sects. The creed makes 
the sect. The creed is the organic law of the sect. 
Abolish the organic law or creed, and you abolish 
the sect. Creeds are the production of human au- 
thority. Men look at the Bible through the creed, 
and interpret it by the creed. And, hence, secta- 
rians believe what their church believes, and their 
church believes what they believe; and, hence, they 
and the church believe the same things ! And this is 
the reason they give for the hope that is in them. 
All sects or denominations, therefore, are based on 
human authority, held together respectively by 
human creeds or organic laws enacted by men, and 
have no warrant or authority from God at all. 

The Church of God is a divine institution. Its 
creed is divine. Its organic law is divine. Its 
foundation is Jesus Christ ; its organic laws are in 
the Xew Testament, and all its other laws, institu- 
tions, and ordinances are there. Destroy or abol- 
ish a human creed, and you destroy or abolish the 
sect which holds it. But to destroy the Church of 
God, or the Church of Christ, you must destroy 
Christ himself, who is its foundation, and the New 
Testament which contains all its organic and legisla- 
tive authority. There is no human element in it ex- 
cept the materials which compose it — men and wo- 
men — who are believers in Christ Jesus. 

We turn to the various denominatioiifii aud ^$k 



AND HIS APOSTLES. 13 

each one, Is your creed from heaven or of men? 
What answer can they give ? If each one replies,/ro»i 
heaven^ then we ask : Are they all alike ? And they 
are compelled to answer, 710. Then thej are not all 
from heaven, for God is not the author of confusion. 
He never made one creed for one denomination, and 
another for some other denomination, much less is 
He the author of the more than legion creeds which 
divide and curse the Christian world. 

The Church of God or Church of Christ, individu, 
ally called Saints, Christians, or Disciples of Christ- 
acknowledges no human authority, no legislative 
power. Christ is '' Head over all things to the 
Church," and hence a human creed, as the founda- 
tion, covenant, or bond of the Church, must be re- 
jected, if we would not dishonor Him, who is the 
only Lawgiver and Judge of His people. Eph. i : 22, 
iv : 15 ; Col. i : 18. Mr. Moody says, '' We must look 
away from all these things to Christ." This is right. 
Let all the Christians in Christendom '' look away " 
from all the "dead doctrines," "dead theologies," 
and " dead creeds," to a living Christ, " the Head of 
all principality and power," and very soon " like kin- 
dred drops they will mingle into one." 

I am glad Mr. Moody has alluded to the question 
of creeds, and only regret that he has not more fully 
explained and defined his position. General re- 
marks are not enough. His position before the pub- 
lic demands that he be explicit in his statements, 
and he owes it to himself, to the various denom- 
inations, to the Church of Christ, and to God Him- 
self to tell the world what "creeds," "doctrines," 



14 3IOODY VERSUS CHRIST. 

and " theologies '' are '' dead,'' and wiiicli are not. 
I call upon him to brand by name all these ''dead" 
things of ^yhich he speaks, and so put the Christian 
world on their guard respecting them. As a great 
evangelist of world-wide fame, he cannot, dare not 
remain silent on a question fraught with so much 
importance to the people of God and the world. 

The Christian's creed, the word of God " is livmg 
and powerful." The Spirit of God is in it, and oper- 
ates through it upon the minds and hearts of men. 
What spirit operates through human creeds '? The 
spirit of party, of division, of schism, of sectarian- 
ism. Each sectarian creed has its spirit, and that 
spirit is the spirit of the denomination holding the 
creed. And it is not an unfrequent thing for the 
spirit of the party to be mistaken for the spirit of 
Christ, and the lo^x of the party to be mistaken for 
the love of Christ; and a zeal for the party to be 
mistaken for zeal for Christ and His truth. ''If any 
man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his," 

"I now leave the subject of "dead creeds," and 
proceed to examine what Mr, Moody says on faith. 



AND HIS APOSTLES. 15 



CHAPTER II 



ON FAITH 



And on this point I will let Mr. Moody speak for 
himself. He asks, "What is faith f' and then pro- 
ceeds to say : 

^' The best definition I can find of faith is that one given in 
Hebrews : 'Now faith is tlie substance of things hoped for, the 
evidence of tliino-s not seen.' It is the dependence upon the 
veracity of another. It is the foundation really, of all good 
society. It you hath not faith in the bank whei-e your money 
is, it wouhl come out before j^ou went home to-night, it you 
could get it out. If you have a sick child, and you have lost 
faith in the doctor, you soon discharge tliat doctor. You can 
see it really is the foundation of society, and you cannot offer 
a man reaily a greater insult than by telling him that you liave 
not any faith in him." 

Now this general definition of faith is not bad; it 
has the true ring, and while it might be improved, is 
quite well illustrated. But we must hear him again. 
His next thought is that 

WITHOUT FAITH WE CANNOT PLEASE GOD. 

He says : 

''Scripture tells us that God cannot be pleased without faith. 
It is impossible to please God without faith. AY ell, it is im- 
possible to please men really without faith. Many a man has 
been knocked down on the streets of St. Louis, because some 



16 MOODY YEF^SUS CHRIST 

body has given liim the lie, has told him that he is a liar. Well^ 
the plain English of "unbelief" is this: 

GIVING GOD THE LIE. 

You turn over to the Epistle of John, v : 10, and .it says : ' He 
that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself; 
he that believeth not God hath made him a liar, because he be- 
lieveth not the record that God gave of his Son.' Now that is 
just what unbelief is. It is giving God the lie, that we won't 
believe his testimony. We take the testimony of men, but we 
won't take God's testimony; we believe what men say, but we 
will not believe what God says." 

Then, after speaking of tlie untrutlifulness of news- 
paper statements, and how men credit them, espec- 
ially if they be of an injurious character, Mr. 
Moody adds: 

*' But when God bears His record. His testimony for His Son, 
men are not willing to take God's testimony. They are not 
willino- to believe it." 

He then proceeds to speak as follows of 

SAYING FAITH. 

" JsTow, saving faith has, as you might say, three things. There 
is knowledge, assent and laying hold. I may intellectually believe 
a thing. I may believe that getting on a train of cars will take 
me to Chicago or New York if nothing happens, but if I don't 
act upon that knowledge it don't help me. I may give my 
assent to it and saj', ' yes, I believe that,' but I have got to act 
upon it. I may be hungry, and there is bread, and I may say, 
* I believe that bread will satisfs^ my hunger,' but if I don't 
eat the bread it will not help me. 1 may be sick, and I may know, 
and I may give mj assent that a certain medicine will help me, but 
if I don't take the medicine, if I don't act upon the knowledge, if I 
don't lay hold it won't help me. And so a man may know that 
Christ can save him ; that He has the power to save him; but if 
he don't lay hold of Christ he won't save him." 



AND HIS APOSTLES* 17 

And, after giving various other illustrations of 
faith, and alluding to a little boy before him, who 
had faith in his father and mother, he continues 
thus : 

*^ And now what we want is the same faith. It is the same 
kind of faith. God has linked faith and salvation together. It 
is a decree of high lieaven. * He that believeth hath '—it don't 
say that he shall have when he comes to die— but he *hath,' 
present tense, right here tonight. * He that believeth on Him 
that sent me, liath everlasting life ; and there is not a thing to 
hinder every person in this house from believing on the Son 
now and being saved if you will." 

1 have quoted largely from Mr. Moody, without mak- 
ing many comments; but just here I have something 
to say respecting his definitions of faith. He divides 
faith unto " knowledge, assent^ and laying hold." I 
do not regard this as correct, but arbitrary and fan- 
ciful. Had he reversed his order it would have been 
less arbitrary, and it certainly needs to be transposed. 
Had he put "assent'' first, as the weakest degree of 
faith, and followed it with "laying hold,'' and put 
*' knowledge " last, the arrangement would have been 
more in accordance with the truth. His illustrations 
of this part of his subject are all in agreement with 
his definitions, and, hence, faulty and objectionable. 

The phrase "lay hold" occurs in I Tim. vi: 12-19. 
Heb. vi : 18. Paul exhorts Timothy to " lay hold of 
eternal life, whereunto he had been called." And he 
was commanded to instruct others to "be rich in 
good works, e"fc., that they might lay hold of eternal 
life." And in Hebrews, Paul speaks of the "strong 
consolation " of those " who have fled for refuge to 
lay hold upon the hope set before us," etc. 



18 MOODY YERSrS CHUISO' 

Faith is simply belief on testimony. If the testi* 
mony be human, the faith is human. If the testimony 
be divine, the faith is divine. If the testimony be 
weak, the faith will be correspondingly weak. If the 
testimony be strong, the faith should be correspond- 
ingly strong. Besides the nature or kind of evidence^ 
there is much in the object of faith. The faith of the 
Gospel has Christ for its supreme or highest object. 
It relates to a divine person, the Lord Jesus Christ, 
as the Son of God ; as having died for sin ; as having 
arisen from the dead ; as being crowned in heaven 
"Lord of lords and King of kings;'' as the great 
High Priest of our profession, and as "head over all 
things to the Church, which is His body.'' Faith in 
Christ is faith in a living, personal Saviour, and the 
highest degree o'f faith is trust. Eph. i: 12, 13. "That 
we should be to the praise of his glory, who first 
trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted^ after that 
ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salva- 
tion, in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were 
sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, etc". The 
Ephesians first "heard the word of truth," then 
"trusted" in Christ. And "after they believed^^^ and 
not before, "they were sealed with that Holy Spirit 
of promise." This is the divine order or arrange- 
ment which cannot be changed. The " knowledge " of 
salvation comes by the remission of sins. Lukei: 
77. 

Mr. Moody puts it pretty strong when he says, " a 
man may Icnow that Christ can save him ; that He has 
the power to save him; but if he don't lay hold of 
Christ He won't save him." I think the term 



AND HIS APOSTLES. 19 

" know," like the same term in his illustration about 
the " medicine,'' is too strong, and by no means the 
proper one. A man may believe that Christ can save 
him, as some did when He was on earth, and through 
the influence of various motives never confess Him. 
But as a man cannot '' know '' that a certain medicine 
can cure him until he has tried it, and has realized 
its healing power ; so '^ If any man will do His will^ 
he shall Ixnow of the doctrine (teaching) whether it be 
of God," etc. John vii: 17. 

Mr. Moody's exegesis of John vi : 47. " He that be- 
lieveth on me hath everlasting life," is an evidence of 
carelessness on his part. There is a vast difference 
between having a right or title to '' eternal life," and 
having it in possession. All Christians are heirs of 
that life, but whether they will inherit it or not de- 
pends on a faithful " continuance in well doing.'^ 
This truth is confirmed by many Scriptures, and re- 
quires no labored argument to sustain it. But the 
use which Mr. Moody makes of the text is per- 
nicious. It is true that, " He that believeth on the 
Son hath life ;" but not " eternal life." To this he 
has only the title. ^' Eternal life " cannot be lost^ if 
in actual possession ; but the title to it may be for- 
feited., and so the blessing itself never enjoyed. But 
according to Mr. Moody's interpretation, every one 
who believes in Christ has eternal life in possession, 
and can never be lost ; which, in a somewhat different 
shape, is the old doctrine of " once in grace, always 
in grace," which, of course, in Mr. Moody's esteem, 
is not one of the "dead theologies." So much for 
the perversion of a text. 



20 MOODY VERSUS CHRIST 

But let us hear Mr. Moody tell 

HOW FAITH COMES. 

'*Xow% how does faith come? 'Faith comes by hearing, and 
hearing by the word of God.- I am nowhere told to increase 
my faith by praying for faith. If I had spent the time in years 
gone by studying the word of God, and getting acquainted 
with God, that I have spent in pmying for faith, I think 1 woiild 
have been further on in the Christian life than I am now. It is 
astonishing to see so many people in the church closing up their 
Bibles^ and not looking into them from one year to another as a 
hixx^Y ^ ajid praying God to give them faith. Now, faith comes by 
hearing, and hearing by the word of God ; and if a man knows 
the word of God he will be acquainted with God, and will have 
faith in Him. Just see what it says here in the Gospel of St. 
John: 'That ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son 
of God ; and that believing ye might have life through His 
name.' Now this blessed gospel was wHtten that ye might be- 
lieve, and that believing ye might have life through His name. 
This is how you get faith ; it is hy the word.'''' 

This is certainly sound teaching. It has the ring 
of the old Jerusalem blade, and demonstrates that 
Mr. Moody is not ignorant of the word of God ; and 
that he can at least," see men as trees walking.'' He 
speaks on this point "as the Oracles of God," and has 
so fully declared himself that he cannot go back. 
Let us now hear him on 

FAITH versus f;eeling. 

"As I said in the opening of the lecture, it is not feeling, 
faith is not feeling ; there is a good deal of difference between 
faith and feeling. One person has used the illustration, and I 
think it a very good one. He says there are some people in the 
ehurch w^ho are all the time living on their feelings. And it is 
feel, feel, feel, and you can't talk with them but they begin to 
talk about their feelings. And he represents them like a sail- 
ing vessel out at sea. Whei'e there is a good breeze they g«t on 



AND HIS APOSTLES. 21 

very well, but if there come up contrary winds they are driven 
about in every direction ; but a man that has got faith is like 
one of those great steamers; he plows right along against the 
wind, and ngainst the waves, and against the tides, making good 
progress night and day." 

This is sufficient on this point. It is evident Mr. 
Moody places faith above feeling, neither does he 
predicate faith on feeling. If he was not so well 
known, one might be led to suppose he had united 
with the Church of Christ, and was a Christian 
preacher ! But we know where and how he stands, and 
although he has spoken many things which are good 
and true, he has failed to preach the whole gospel, as 
I shall show hereafter. 

Mr. Moody says truly : 

" If we trust in God we are not going to be confounded. If we 
trust in one another, if we trust in churches and creeds instead 
of a loving Christ and a living Savior, we are going to be disap- 
pointed. Then there is an idea among people, being common 
now-a-days, that 

IT DON'T MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE WHAT A MAX BELIEVES, IF HE IS 

ONLY SINCERE. 

How often you hear it: It don't make any ditference what you 
believe ; it is immaterial what a man believes if he is only honest. 
That is all — to be sincere. One religion is just as good as 
another. One doctrine is just as good as another if you are only 
sincere. I think that is one of the most pei^nicioiis doctidnes that was 
evei" taugJd on this earth, I believe that is one of the lies that came 
from the devil himself Don't make any ditference what a man 
believes if he is only sincere ? What an absurd idea ! The most 
sincere men that I have ever heard of were the false prophets of 
Baal, on Mount CarmeL I have not seen any in America, as sin- 
cere as those men were. Look at them there, 400 prophets of the 
grove and 450 prophets of Baal, leaping on that altar and cutting 
themselves with knives until the blood ran all over their bodies. 
And thei^ they ai^ panting and ciyixig to the g<xl Baal ta como 



22 MOODY YERSUS CHRIST 

and help them. They were terribly in earnest They were 
terribly sincere, but there was no answer to their prayer, there 
was no answer to their cry. A man has built a house. He 
builds it on the sand. Why, it is just as good on the sand as on 
a rock, if he is only sincere about it. That is all. What is the 
difference ? You need not look for a foundation ; if you believe 
that the sand is just as good as the rock, it is just as good, if 
you are only sincere about it. I give a man a check for $500, and 
he says to me, * Have you any money in the bank?' I don't 
know, but I am in earnest. I give you the check. I mean busi- 
ness. There is the check. ' Well, but have you got any money 
in the bank ?' Well, I don't know, but I am terribly in earnest 
about it. There is your check. All you have to do is to be 
sincere — to be honest and sincere — that is all. It is not what 
you believe.' 

There is a bridge yonder and its foundations are bad, rotten, 
and you know if a train goes over it, down it will go. But then 
if you are sincere, it is all the same. What is the odds ? A 
rotten bridge is as good as a sound one if you are only sincere. 
That is the doctrine of the world now, and the cry now. Y^ou 
are not to look at the doctrine. Y^ou are to have faith in eveiy 
thing that comes along, only just be honest, just be sincere. A 
lie is just as good as the truth, if you are only sincere. I had a 
man tell me that since I have been here in St. Louis. He said 
that persons were blessed in believing a lie, if they were only 
sincere in it. That is all— just to be sincere." 

I have not quoted all Mr. Moody says on this point, 
but this is enough. This, in the minds of thousands 
both in and out of the church, is the great delusion of 
the present day, and Mr. Moody takes the proper 
view of it. His position is well taken, and could be 
illustrated and enforced by hundreds of Scriptural 
and other examples ; but he has argued it so well, 
and presented it so strongly, I do not deem it neces- 
sary to add more. 

I now approach one of Mr. Moody's positions on 



AND HtS APOSTLES. 23 

faith^ from which I am compelled to dissent. It 
really seems strange that a man of his apparent 
knowledge of the Scriptures, should so seriously 
blunder after all the good and true things he has 
said about faith. But he is evidently, (I hope not 
hopelessly), in the old theological rut of 

FAITH ALONE. 

This is the " sandy foundation '' on which thousands 

build, and, because they are " sincere,'' think it all 

right. But I am glad Mr. Moody, though he holds 

the dogma, cannot predicate its safety on the ground 

of " sincerity '' and " honesty.'' But let us hear Mr. 

Moody himself. He says : 

"We get a new life hyjicst believing with all our heart upon 
the Son." Again : '' There Is nothing to hinder every person 
in this house from believing on the Son now and being saved if 
you will." Again : *• There is no reason in the wide world why 
we should not have faith in Him; why we should not lay hold 
of Him by faith right here to-day right here this very hour if we 
wilL Now, if there is a person in this audience out of Christ and 
he wants Him, you can become WisJhis very moment if you will 
just take Him by faith," etc. He represents men as "lost one 
minute and saved the next," which about equals the lines 
written with reference to a sinner who was thrown from his 
horse and killed : 

" Between the stirrup and the ground. 
He pardon sought and pardon found." 

Once more : 

"If there be a man here who is the slave of any passion or lust, 
I say unto him that the Son of God came into the world to de- 
stroy the works of the devil and deliver you from the power of 
Satan; and he wants to deliver not only 5^ou,but to deliver every 
soul, and you can ifyouwill, 6e saved this very minute.''^ — Glad 
Tidings, page 111. 



24 MOODY YERSTJS CHUISO? 

Mr. Moody not only teaches that men are saved by 

faith alone, but also that they are saved the very 

moment t^ej believe in Christ; and "that salvation is 

instantaneous.'' Hear him : 

•^ I want to prove to you that salvation Is instantaneous. It is 
just as mdden as a man walking through a door-way. One 
minute he is on this side, the n«xt he is on that side." — Glad 
Tidings, page 226. 

Mr. Moody gives quite a number of illustrations of 
this his favorite notion, but they are farfetched and 
forced into his service unscripturally and illogically. 
As examples he uses the '^ door way," *' Koah going 
into the Ark,'' and the Israelites taking " one look " 
at the brazen serpent; all of which, he claims, proves 
that " faith only," " one step," one single " look " is 
enough ! Types, when properly understood and inter- 
preted, are beautiful illustrations of truth ; but when 
misunderstood and misapplied they serve only to 
darken counsel, and such is the use Mr. Moody has 
made of them. He declares that 

GOD HAS LINKED SALVATION AND FAITH TOGETHER. 

And this is true, but it is not all the truth. Faith 
alone does not save. Faith is a principle of action. 
Faith does something. Even Mr. Moody seems to 
recognize this, for he says, we "have got to act 
upon it." He speaks of a " faith that will take us to 
Christ." Faith leads to obedience, and men are 
saved by ''the obedience of faith," and not by faith 
alone. Faith works— does something— leads to obe- 
dience to the commandments of God. "By faith 
Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than 
Cain ; " "by faith Enoch walked with smd pleased God; " 



AND HIS APOSTLES. 25 

^' by faith H^osih prepared an Ark ; '' " by faith Abraham 
obeyed ',^^ and so of all those ancient worthies of 
whom Paul speaks in the 11th chapter of Hebrews. 
In every dispensation of God to men, while the acts 
of obedience have not always been the same, salva- 
tion has always been predicated on faith and obedi- 
ence, I use the term salvation as synonymous with 
pardon, remission, justification and forgiveness, 
which seems to be the sense in which Mr. Moody 
himself uses it. He says : 

'' Some men say, ' I wish I knew just how to be saved.' And 
he replies: 'Just take God at his word and trust his Son this 
very night, and this very hour, and this very moment. He will 
save you if j'ou trust in him."' — Glad Tidings, page 106. 

Ko inspired apostle ever gave such an answer as 
that to an intelligent inquirer after salvation. I say 
intelligent, because the Philippian jailor may be sup- 
posed to be an exception. But more of his case 
hereafter. 

In order to understand the gospel plan of salva- 
tion, we must 

RIGHTLY DIVIDE THE WORD OF TRUTH. 

Christ appeared in the end of the Jewish age ; He 
was born under the law, fulfilled it, and by His death 
and resurrection abolished it. 

During His personal ministry, as " He had power 
on earth to forgive sins," He pardoned sinners with 
or without conditions as it pleased Him. In proof 
of this consult Matt, ix: 2-6; Mark ii : 10; Luke v: 
21 ; Luke vii : 47-19. When Christ was on earth, 
He exercised His authority or power in forgiving 
^ins in accordance with the circumstances and con- 



26 MOODY VERSUS CHRIST 

dition of the person pardoned, without regard to 
any uniform rule or conditions, except such as he 
saw fit to impose in each respective case. And then 
He pronounced the pardon tvith His own lips. His 
word gave them the assurance of forgiveness. This 
statement applies to all the cases where He, in per- 
son, absolved persons from their sins. And it ap- 
plies with peculiar force to the ''thief on the cross," 
that theological scape-goat, whose case has been 
made the occasion of disobedience on the part of 
thousands, aided by such teachers and preachers as 
Mr. Moody, who can see no difference between the 
personal exercise of Christ's authority during His 
ministry on earth, and the provisions of that Last 
Will and Testament, which was sealed with His own 
blood ; and to which, thus confirmed and sealed, no 
one can add anything, and from which no one dare 
subtract one single jot or tittle. Paul settles this 
question beyond all dispute : " For where a testa- 
ment is, there must also of necessity be the death of 
the testator. For a testament is of force after men 
are dead ; otherwise it is of no strength at all while 
the testator liveth.'' Heb. ix : 16, 17. Now, the tes- 
tator, Jesus Christ, was yet living when He said to 
the thief, "This day shalt thou be with me in para- 
dise,'' which language clearly implies the forgiveness 
of his sins, as in the many other cases of which we 
read in the gospels. The case of the thief belongs 
to the same class, and must be disposed of in the 
same way. Christ had not yet expired. The IN'ew 
Will or Testament had not yet been sealed. The 
general law of pardon had not yet been promul- 



AND HIS APOSTLES. 2t 

gated* the Apostles or Ambassadors of Christ to 
the world, had not yet received their commission. 
The thief was the last sinner personally pardoned by 
Christ before He expired on the cross, and he is no 
example for any one now, except such as may desire 
to live in sin and disobedience to the last moment^ 
and, then, when they can no longer serve the devil, 
turn their dying eyes to heaven, and give the ashes of 
a mis-spent life to God. I have no faith in " death-bed 
repentance," particularly where grand and glorious 
opportunities have been thrown to the winds, and 
persons have deliberately rejected the Gospel of 
Christ. It is not true that 

" While the lamp holds out to burn, 
The vilest sinner may return." 

And while the pardon of the thief is a beautiful 
illustration of the amazing condescension and love 
of Christ to a sinner hanging on the cross beside 
Him, and who, perhaps, for the first time has had an 
opportunity of knowing the character of Jesus, it is 
no example for sinners now ; nor does his case come 
under the general laic of pardon authorized by 
Christ, and promulgated by His apostles. 

I have thus paved the way to a presentation of the 
general and uniform 

LAW OF PARDON. 

And in discussing the general and uniform law of 
pardon under the gospel, I will quote the commis- 
sion and demonstrate that salvation is not by " faith 
alon^,'' as Mr. Moody and others teach. 

"And Jesus came and spake unto them saying: 



28 MOODY YERSITS CHRIST 

All power (autliority) is given unto me in heaven and 
in earth. Go ye therefore and teach [Mathetensate' 
disciple,) all nations, baptizing them (the taught-dis- 
cipled) into {eis) the name of the Father, and of the 
Son, and of the Holy Spirit ; teaching them (the bap- 
tized) to observe all things whatsoever I have com- 
manded you : And, lo, I am with you alway, even 
unto the end of the world. Amen.'' Matt, xxviii: 
18-20. 

" Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to 
every creature. He that believeth and is baptized 
shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be 
damned.'' Mark xvi : 15, 16. 

"Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to 
suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day : And 
that repentance and remission of sins should be 
preached in His name among all nations, beginning 
at Jerusalem." Luke xxiv : 46, 47. 

"Then said Jesus to them again. Peace be unto 
you : As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 
And when He had said this He breathed on them, and 
saith unto them, Eeceive ye the Holy Spirit : Whose- 
soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them ; 
and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained." 
John XX : 21-23. 

Here we have the 

GREAT COMMISSION 

given by Christ to his apostles, and under which they 
preached. All their preaching and teaching was in 
strict accordance with their commission. They could 
not preach anything not in harmony with it. They 



AND ms APOSTLES. 29 

were "to tarry in Jerusalem until endowed with 
power from on high." Luke xxiv: 49. They were 
"commanded not to depart from Jerusalem, but to 
wait for the promise of the Father, which ye have 
heard of me.'' Acts, i : 4. During the interval be- 
tween the death of Christ and the day of Pentecost, 
they were silent, but " when the day of Pentecost was 
fully come," they were " endowed with power from 
on high," and entered upon their high mission of 
preaching the gospel. 

Let me pause here, and briefly state the require- 
ments of the commission as given by the Evangelists: 
According to Matthew, First, The nations were to be 
taught or discipled. Second, They were to be bap- 
tized into the name of the Father, Son and Holy 
Ghost. Third, They were to be taught to observe 
all things whatsoever Christ had commanded. 

There is no "faith alone " here ; but the people are 
to be taught and discipled, and then baptized. Here 
discipling and baptizing are " linked together " by 
Him who has " all authority in heaven and in earth," 
and " what the Lord has joined together let none put 
asunder." And, remember, that the teaching or dis- 
cipling precedes the baptism. 

According to Mark, first, the gospel is to be 
preached ; then, secondly, follows faith in the gospel, 
and, thirdly, baptism. 

There is no " faith alone " here, hni faith and iap- 
ttsm are "linked with salvation" by Jesus Christ 
Himself, the One eternal Law-giver ! 

Luke mentions, first, Eepentance, and, second, Ee- 
mission of Sins. And these were to be preached 



30 Moody versus ohrist 

"in the name/' or by the authority of Jesus Christ, 
" BEGINNING at Jerusolem.^^ 

There is no "faith alone'' in Luke's statement 
of the commission ; indeed, he does not mention faith 
at all, though it, as well as baptism, is implied. Here 
"repentance and remission of sins" are "linked to- 
gether " by divine authority* 

Now, taking the testimony of Matthew, Mark and 
Luke, and what does the commission require in order 
to " salvation " or the " remission of sins ?" It clearly 
requires Faith, Eepentance, and Baptism. From 
this conclusion there is only one way of escape, and 
that is by denying the authority and word of Jesus 
Christ. We have a " thus saith the Lord " for all that 
is taught in the commission. 

Its faith, repentance, and baptism are backed by 
the Lord of heaven and earth. And, remember, Mr. 
Moody says : " God has linked salvation and faith 
together." He says : " 'A thus saith the Lord ' is 
enough." That " God has been true to His word for 
6,000 years." I hold him to these declarations with 
hooks of steel. " Thus saith the Lord," " He that 
believeth and ^s baptized shall be saved.^^ Does Mr. 
Moody believe this ? Does he preach it ? If not, 
why not? How can he, or any one else, suppress 
a part of God's message to the world? How can 
he, or any other preacher, mutilate the Commission 
of our Lord? Has not the Lord Jesus Christ 
'linked" salvation with faith, repentance, and bap- 
tism? Is it possible Mr. Moody has not seen it? 
Cannot see it ? I suppose Mr. Moody teaches re- 
pentance, but in his book of sermons, called " Olad 



AND HIS APOSTLES. 31 

Tidings,^^ embracing about 500 pages, if there is a 
discourse on the subject of repentance I have failed 
to find it ! This, to me, is a strange and singular 
omission. In some of his discourses he may have 
intended to cover this ground, but, if so, he has failed 
to make prominent this important condition of sal- 
vation ; a condition which is closely '^ linked '' with 
faith, and should always precede baptism. 

But I am not yet done with the Apostolic Com- 
mission. There is something peculiar in it as re- 
corded by John. Christ says to them : " Whoseso- 
ever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them ; and 
whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained.'^ 

It is important we should understand this lan- 
guage. Were the Apostles invested with authority 
to forgive sins ? Are we to understand this language 
in the Eomish sense, that the Apostles were invested 
with authority to absolve penitents from all their 
sins, or to pronounce absolution? 

The language of Christ to Peter may throw some 
light upon this question ; " And I will give unto thee 
the keys of the kingdom of heaven : and whatsoever 
thou Shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven : 
and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be 
loosed in heaven." Matt, xvi ; 19. Again ; '' Verily, 
I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth 
shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall 
loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.'' Chap, 
xviii: 18. 

From the above we learn that, the authority given 
to Peter, (with the exception of the keys, which will 
be explained hereafter), was subsequently given to 



32 MOODY VERSUS CHRIST 

all the Apostles. And again we learn that the in- 
vestment of this authority was then future^ just like 
the building of Christ's Church. He said, " I will 
build,'' not I have built. And " I will give unto thee 
the keys," etc. 

The Apostles were the Ambassadors of Christ; 
they were clothed with plenary power, and were 
guided by the Holy Spirit into all the truth. They 
spake by inspiration of the Spirit, and, hence, their 
words were the words of God, of Christ, and of 
the Holy Spirit ; and hence of Peter it was true, that 
whatsoever he made binding on earth, was ratified 
or made binding in heaven; and whatsoever he 
loosed on earth, or did not make binding, was not 
made binding in heaven. And this plenary power 
or authority was conferred on all as in the 18th 
Chapter of Matthew and the 18th verse, where the 
same language is addressed to them all. All this 
authority was necessary to qualify them as His pleni- 
potentiaries to the world. They were appointed to 
treat with men in His name, and full power to do so 
must be conferred upon them, Hence^ whatever 
they made binding in the name or by the authority 
of Jesus Christ was binding on earth and in heaven ! 

And whatever they loosed, left loose, or did not 
make binding on earth, was not made binding in 
heaven. I am satisfied with the correctness of this 
exegesis, and believe it is the only one admissible. 

Kow, we are prepared to examine the commission 
as recorded by John, where our Lord says : " Whose- 
soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them ; 
and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained," 



AND HIS APOSTLES. 33 

These words evidently confer absolute power and 
authority to proclaim to the world the terms or con- 
ditions of remission of sins. They had full power to 
announce the conditions of pardon. They acted in 
Christ's stead ; spoke for Christ, and those who heard 
them, heard Christ ; and those who heard Christ, 
heard the Father ! "*He that heareth you, heareth 
me ; and he that heareth me, heareth Him that sent 
me.'' Luke x : 16. 

Now, what did tliese spirit-inspired Apostles 
preach? Did they preach in harmony with the com- 
mission they had received, and under and by virtue 
of which they acted? If they did not, they were 
untrue to the trust confided to them, and were guilty 
of high treason against "the Lord of lords, and King 
of kings." That Mr. Moody and thousands of others 
do not preach the commission, is a fact patent to all 
who understand the " way of the Lord." 

Peter had '• the keys of the kingdom of heaven," 
and was the chief speaker on the day of Pentecost. 
The Apostles were '' all filled with the Holy Spirit," 
and spake "as -the Spirit gave them utterance." 
They preached the gospel. Multitudes of the people 
were "pierced to the heart" and cried out: '-^ Men 
and brethren^ what shall we do ? " Their weal or 
woe hangs upon Peters answer! A mistake now 
will be fatal not only to them, but to all future gener- 
ations of men who may inquire the way of salvation. 
Life and death, heaven and hell, hope and despair, 
salvation or condemnation all hang upon the words 
of "Peter and the rest of the Apostles." What 
answer will they give! What answer would Mr, 



34 MOODY VERSUS CHRIST 

Moody have given? The answers he now gives to 
the thousands who inquire what they must do to be 
saved, are the answers he would have given then. 
He does not now think "'A thus saith the Lord' 
enough.'^ He does not preach the commission as 
Peter did, nor give the answer he gave. But let us 
hear Peter's answer. It was true and infallible ! It 
was not 2, figurative answer. It was not hyperbolical. 
Hope and fear now tremble in the balance in the 
hearts of his hearers, and every ear is strained to 
catch the answer that shall seal their doom. Peter 
looks down on their upturned and anxious faces, and 
gives God's answer, the answer of Christ, and of the 
Holy Spirit to their question. And what was it? 
Was it " A thus saith the Lord ? " It was ! And here 
it is: ^^ Repent y and he haptized every one of you in the 
name of Jestis Ghristfor the remission of sins ^ and ye 
shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit/^ Acts ii : 38. 
There is no ''faith alone'' here. These people 
had faith when they asked, " what shall we do ? " And 
Peter told them to ^^repeyitsmd be baptized every 
ONE OF YOU in the name of Jesus Christ," or by His 
authority, ''''for the remission of sins, and ye shall 
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." These are 
the things Peter made binding on earth, and they 
were ratified or made binding in heaven. These are 
the conditions of remission which are covered by 
"•whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto 
them ; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are 
retained." Christ, in the gospel, has ordained a 
uniform law of pardon, and that law is briefly ex- 
pressed in the words: "He that believeth (the 



AND HIS APOSTLES. 35 

gospel) and is baptized shall be savel'' And just 
here it is in order to quote from Mr. Moody again: 

" Now. 1 hear some people talking about faith— the faith that 
they have for somethings, and I tremble because they have not 
got any warrant in the word of God. What do I mean by that? I 
mean if I should take 300 men with empty pitchers, and with 
lights in their pitchers to go out and meet a great army (as 
Gideon met the Midianites), without 

A DIRECT COMMAND FROM GOD, 

I would be thrashed. That is all : they would rout me. But 
Gideon had a warrant. He had God's Word He told him to 
go; that was enough; and when we find in the Scriptures, 
' Thus saith the Lord,' that is enough ; that is our warrant; there 
we have it right in God's word, and all we have to do is to come 
to Christ." 

Now, then, I have given the direct command from 
God'' that men must "repent and be baptised for the 
remission of sins," and what will Mr. Moody do with 
it? Will he "take God at his word,'' or will he 
"reject the word of the Lord" as Saul did? It ig 
in place just here, for him to "tremble" on his own 
account — for his own want of faith in God's word. 

The reader will pardon my great plainness of 
speech, and the manner in which I speak of Mr. 
Moody, whose positions and statements lam review- 
ing. He has set the example. He is a bold man, 
and speaks without reserve. And in this examina- 
tion of his religious faith and practice, I intend to 
dig a deep ditch around him, throw up intrench- 
ments, cast up breast works, build forts, and mount 
his own guns, and turn them against him ! If he is 
inconsistent, and even contradictory, it is no fault 



36 MOODY YEHSTJS CHUIST 

of mine. He is a public man, and his sermons, 
and even Ms prayers, are published in the news- 
papers and in books, and scattered broad-cast like 
autumn leaves; and his preaching and teaching are 
legitimate subjects of Biblical criticism. But let me 
return to my subject, and in doing so I will quote 
the words of Peter in Acts iii: 19. "Eepent ye 
therefore and be converted, that your sins may be 
blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come 
from the presence of the Lord.'' Here we have re- 
perit and tu^m^fovihe ^voidconvert means to turn, and 
is so translated in many places in the Scriptures. 
ISo "faith alone'' in this passage, but it is sub- 
stantially the same as in Acts ii: 38. True, Paul 
says we are justified by faith, and by the faith; but 
he nowhere says we are justified by " faith alone." 
And when he speaks of justification hy faith^ in 
contrast with justification hy ivorJiS^ he always has 
reference to "the works of the law," and not to 
" the obedience of faith." This is so obvious that 
it really seems to me, it requires no argument to 
sustain it. And, then, in some places he uses the 
article before faith, and speaks of it as "the faith" 
in contrast with " the law," and evidently means by 
the phrase, " the faith, " the gospel as opposed to 
the law. In proof of these statements I refer to 
Eom. iii : 25-31 ; Chap, v : 1. Gal ii : 16, 17 ; Chap, 
iii: 2-5. See, also, verses 8 to 27 inclusive. 

Abraham himself was not justified by "faith 
alone." James says : "Was not Abraham our father 
justified hy ivorks^ when he had offered Isaac his son 
upon the altar ? Seest thou how faith wrought 



AND HIS APOSTLES. S7 

{worked) with Ms tvorlcs, and hy worlcs was faith made 
perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which 
saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed to 
him for righteousness : and he was called the Friend 
of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is 
justified, and not by faith only," or alone. James ii: 
21-24. 

" Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone,'' 
says the Apostle. And again: "For as the body 
without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is 
dead also.'' 

Mr. Moody advances nothing more pernicious than 
salvation by " faith alone." This is the rock on 
which he wrecks ''the obedience of faith." It is here 
he misleads the honest seekers after light and salva- 
tion. And he is not alone, for thousands of preach- 
ers repeat and echo the same thing. 

Mr. Moody told of a lady who said she " had been 
seeking Christ for three years," and asked, '' What 
would you do, then ? " Said he, " Bo nothing^ only 
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shcdt be 
savedP " Oh," said she, " I have heard that till my 
head swims. Everybody says. Believe! believe! 
believe ! and I am none the wiser." Glad Tidings, 
page 423. 

And this is just what Mr. Moody and thousands 
of others do. He says: "John's gospel is the great 
one. Believe, believe, believe, he says." Glad Tid- 
ings, page 484. 

Mr. Moody says, if a sinner desires to know what 
he must do to be saved, he would direct him to the 
gospel of John ! Has he yet to learn that the Acts 



38 :\IOODY TEEsrs cheist 

of Apostles conlains the only fall and complete 
answers to that important question ? The historical 
books of ^Matthew, IMark. Luke, and John, were writ- 
ten to establish the claims of Jesus Christ ; and in 
them vre have the great facts of the gospel ; His 
birth, life, miracles, teacMng, death, burial, resur- 
rection, and ascension to heaven ; and, in the lan- 
guage of John, it is true: "And many other signs 
truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, 
which are not written in this book: But these are 
written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the 
Christ; the Son of God; and that beheving ye might 
have life through His name.'' John xx : 30. 31. But 
while this is true, it is nevertheless a fact that, the 
Acts of Apostles contains, full and complete, the 
proper answer to the question, '"TThat must I do to 
be saved?'' There, and nowhere else, can the peni- 
tent believer find what he must do in order to the 
remission of his sins. And only in one case was the 
answer simply, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and thou shalt be saved.'' Acts xvi: 30, 31, 32, 33, 
34. The Philippian jail was a heathen, a pagan. He 
had no faith. And therefore Paul, " as a wise master- 
builder.'' told him to believe. This was the first 
thing to be done. The jailor took Paul and Silas 
into his house. "And they spake unto him the word 
of the Lord, and to all that were in his house." 
And the "jailor was baptized, he and all his straight- 
way." The jailor and his family were not saved by 
faith alone, nor is there such a case on record in the 
Acts of Apostles. Xotice, no one but the jailor 
was present at first when Paul told him to believe, 



AND HIS APOSTLES. 39 

but now " they spake unto him the word of the Lord 
and to all that were in his house.'' ''Faith comes 
by hearing the word of God." They heard it, be- 
lieved and were baptised "the same hour of the 
night;'' and so "rejoiced, believing in God with all 
his house." 

Before dismissing the subject of faith, on which I 
have dwelt at some length, and to which I may have 
occasion to allude again, I will examine what Mr. 
Moody says on the sentence 

"when he saw their faith." 

The above words may be found in Matt. ix:2, 
Mark ii : 5, and Luke v : 20. The case was that of 
a man having the palsy. Those having him in 
charge, finding no access to Christ through the door 
on account of the multitude, " went upon the house 
top, and let him down through the tiling, with his 
couch, into the midst before Jesus." Then we have 
the words: "When he (Jesus) saw tlieir faith, he 
said unto him, Marty thy sins are forgiven thee.^^ 

This miracle has been paraded before the public of 
late years in sermons and books for a special pur- 
pose. Mr. Moody has a whole discourse upon it, 
and his argument is, that the man himself had no 
faith ; that Matthew, Mark and Luke do not say he 
had any faith ; that Jesus " honored the faith " of his 
friends, and healed him because they had faith. His 
language is : "I believe that that whole miracle is to 
teach us ; that that whole lesson is to teach us Chris- 
tians that God will honor our faith." " Christ looks 
up, and when he saw their faith — not the man's faith ; 



40 MOODY YERSTJS CHRIST 

it don't say that he had any — He saw their faith — 
that's the point.'' 

On this I will remark that while the Evangelists 
do not say the sick man " had any faith," they do not 
say he had no faith! Why should Mr. Moody limit 
the pronoun ''their" to the sick man's friends exclu- 
sive of himself? Does the language demand it? It 
certainly does not. The pronoun "their" is used 
with reference to the whole group, and not with 
reference to a part of them ; and the legitimate con- 
clusion is, that the palsied man had as much or 
more faith than his friends. 

But Mr. Moody's position is that he had no faith, 
and that Christ "honored" the faith of his friends, 
and not only healed him physically, but also forgave 
Ms sins without any faith on his part ! Thus, it will 
be seen, Mr. Moody overdoes the matter, and not 
only teaches that Christ so "honored" the faith of 
his friends as to heal him of the palsy, but also so 
"honored their faith " as to forgive a man who had 
no faith ! This caps the climax of faith ! It predi- 
cates remission of sins on the faith of others! It 
sets aside a personal faith, a personal trust in a per- 
sonal Savior ! This man was cured and pardoned by 
a proxy-faith ! What now becomes of all the fine 
things Mr. Moody has said about a personal trust in- 
Christ ? 

"The legs of the lame are not equal." "That 
which proves too much, proves nothing." Mr. Moody 
is lame, inconsistent, and contradictory in his teach- 
ing. He is a surface man, and jumbles thoughts and 
things together without order ; and utterly fails 



AND HIS APOSTLES. 41 

" rightly to divide the word of truth.'' He is a scrap- 
doctor, quotes the Scriptures at random, and then 
misapplies and misinterprets them. As an illustration 
of what 1 have just said, I will quote the following i 
"How long did it take the Lord Jesus Christ to heal 
that man ? Some men say, ' O, we don't believe in 
instantaneous conversions.' How long did it take 
the Lord to heal the man of the leprosy ? One word^ 
and away went the leprosy." 

Had Mr. Moody known what " conversion " is, he 
could not have written thus. As " conversion " is a 
'^tiirning to the Lord," it cannot be properly illustra- 
ted by the miracles Christ wrought, as it respects 
time, manner^ nor conditions. In proof of this, with- 
out referring to particular cases, if the miracles of 
Christ, as it respects time^ manner^ and conditions of 
ci/re and J? arfZoTi, are proper illustrations of conver- 
sion to Christ, then we not only have a great variety 
of methods, but some are required to do something, 
and others to do nothing ; some are required to have 
faith, and others are converted without faith, unless, 
indeed, their friends can believe for them! See Glad 
Tidings^ pages 21-31. 

No wonder Mr. Moody strongly intimates that God 
will so "honor the faith" of his praying people, as 
to convert men hundreds of miles away ! It surely 
is right to "pray for all men," but that God will so 
"honor the faith" of anv one as to convert a sinner, 
who has no faith, hundreds of miles off, and that, too, 
without any other instrumentality — without his hear- 
ing, believing, and obeying the gospel, has no found- 
ation in Scripture, reason nor common sense. If this 



42 MOODY ye:ksus chmsi^ 

had been Christ's method of saving men, why could 
not the apostles have remained in Jerusalem, and 
have converted the world by faith and prayer ? Would 
not Christ have ■'* honored '' their faith ? And why 
send missionaries now to all parts of the world, to 
bear the glad tidings of the gospel to the heathen at 
an immense cost of men and money, when the work 
can be done by faith and prayer, God '' honoring '^ 
them in the conversion of sinners ? For, if God will 
and does so "honor the faith" of his people as to 
convert one sinner in this way, why not one thousand 
or one million, or even the world of the ungodly? I 
know God's providence is mysterious, and that " His 
ways are past finding out ; '' but He " can not,'' and 
''will not lie ; " and that " His word is forever settled 
in heaven," and His gospel an " everlasting gospel," 
"the power of God unto salvation to every one that 
believes it ; and as " faith comes by hearing, and 
hearing by the word of God," as Mr. Moody admits, 
no one can be saved without hearing, believing and 
obeying it. This is God's plan in reference to all, 
infants and idiots excepted. 

Pedobaptists, and Mr. Moody is one, have used 
the text on which he bases his singular theory of 
salvation, to prove that the faith of the parents will 
save the children ; and that they can, and should be 
baptized on the faith of their parents. I do not know 
that Mr. Moody goes as far as this, but if there be 
any foundation in truth in the hypothesis, it not only 
proves that the faith of the parents will save the 
children, but, also, that the faith of one or more men 
will save their neighbors ! Is there any such teach- 



AND HIS APOSTLES. 43 

ing as this in tlie gospel? To ask the question is to 
answer it. The truth is, that salvation is a personal 
matter ; and that no one can hear for another ; believe 
for another ; repent for another ; confess for another, 
nor be baptized for another. Every one " must give 
an account of himself to God."' If these miraculous 
cures and pardons are to be taken as illustrative ex- 
amples of salvation under the gospel, as to time, 
manner, and conditions, how are we to interpret the 
cure of the blind man ? Jesus "' spat on the ground, 
and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the 
eyes of the blind man with the clay. And said unto 
him, go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by inter- 
pretation. Sent). He went his way, therefore, and 
washed, and came seeing.'' John ix : 6, 7. Here is no 
'instantaneous" healing, but a process which ends 
in washing in the pool of Siloam; and all this, too, 
was personal, not depending on the faith of any one 
else. The truth is, none of these miraculous cases 
were ever intended by Christ to teach anything con- 
cerning the time, manner, or conditions of personal 
salvation under the gospel ; but to demonstrate the 
divinity and Messiahship of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
And the manner in which they are used by Mr. Moody, 
and others of the revival school^ is an utter perver- 
sion of them, and highly pernicious in its tendency. 
John tells us why these signs and wonders were per- 
formed and recorded : " And many other signs truly 
did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are 
not written in this book : but these (signs) are writ- 
ten, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, 
the Son of God ; and that believing ye might have 



44 MOODY YERSUS CHBIST 

life through His name." John xx : 30, 31. This was 
the grand design of the Testimonies of Mark, Mat- 
thew, Luke and John, in their record of the wonder- 
ful miracles, signs and wonders performed by Christ, 
and not to indicate the instant aneousness^ manner^ nor 
conditions of salvation from sin under the Gospel 
Proclamation. And I trust the reader will treasure 
up this highly important statement in his mind, and 
not be carried away by the zig-zag, incoherent, ran- 
dom, and unscriptural preaching and teaching of Mr. 
Moody and others of his school. 



AND HIS APOSTHES. 45 



CHAPTER III. 



THE HOLY SPIEIT. 



On the subject of the Holy Spirit, its mission and 
work, Mr. Moody seems to be at sea without even 
starlight to direct him. He confounds the miracu- 
lous operations of the Spirit in the Prophetic and 
Apostolic ages, and makes no distinction between 
the miraculous gifts of the Spirit and its ordinary 
operation in the salvation of men. I have not the 
space to quote largely from him on this subject, but 
I must quote enough to do justice to his position and 
statements. And in order that I may the better 
meet his errors and correct some of the serious mis- 
takes into which he has fallen, I will speak first of 
the Holy Spirit as 

THE SPIRIT OF POWER. 

The Spirit of God was present in the creation of 
the heavens and the earth. In proof of this I refer 
to Gen. i : 2. Job. xxvi : 13 ; Chapter xxxiii : 4. 
This was the exercise of physical power on inani- 
mate things, and also in the creation of man and his 
endowment with life. As I shall have occasion to 
refer again to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of power, 
I will now speak of him as 



46 MOODY VERSUS CHRIST 

THE SPIRIT OF INSPIRATION. 

All the ancient prophets were inspired by the 
Spirit of God. He is the Eevealer, and has been in 
all ages the Spirit of Eevelation. I can only quote a 
few passages on this point, nor need I do it, for Mr. 
Moody and all others interested will admit its truth: 
" All Scripture (is) given by inspiration of God, and 
is profitable," etc., 2 Tim. iii : 16 ; 1 Peter i : 10, 11, 
12. 2 Peter i : "" For the prophecy came not in old 
time by the will of man : but holy men of God spake 
as moved by the Holy Spirit.'^ 

All God's revelations are from heaven, and hence: 
" A man can receive nothing, except it be given him 
from heaven.'' John iii : 27. " Eye hath not seen, 
nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of 
man, the things which God hath prepared for them 
that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us hy 
his Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things; yea, the 
deep things of GodP 1 Cor. ii: 9, 10. And as "no 
man knoweth the things of a man, save the Spirit of 
man which is in him, even so the things of God 
knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God." Hence the 
Apostles " had received the Spirit which is of God," 
and knew "the things given them of God." See 
verses 12, 13 in full. What I have now said shuts 
off and excludes all modern inspiration and revela- 
tions. 

An important point in this examination, is founded 
on the statement that, 

THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS NOT YET GIVEN. 

** In the last day, that great day of the feast^ Jesus 



AND HIS APOSTLES. 47 

stood and cried, saying, If any man lliirst, let liim 
come unto me and drink. lie that believetli on me, 
as the Scripture hath said, Out of his belly shall 
flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the 
Spirit, which they that believe on him should re- 
ceive ; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given ; because 
that Jesus was not yet glorified. '^ John vii: 37-39. 

Here we have a declaration which demands spe- 
cial attention. It is affirmed that "the Holy Spirit 
was not yet given, because Jesus ivas not yet glorified/' 
This is the reason given. And yet, we know the 
Holy Spirit had inspired the prophets in all the 
previous ages. This must be reconciled, for "the 
Scriptures cannot be broken.'' The " Scripture '' re- 
ferred to is obscure, but the Lord may have had 
reference to Isaiah Iviii : 11, and to Chapter xliv : 3, 4, 
but it is more probable that he had reference to the 
general promise of the Spirit in the books of the 
Prophets, and specially to Joel ii: 28-32, which 
was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, after Christ 
was glorified. 

But still a difficulty remains. The Holy Spirit had 
been given before in some sense, and to some per- 
sons. And, now, in reference to this matter, I will 
say, that the Holy Spirit was given only to a few (Tur- 
ing the Patriarchal and Jewish Ages. And it is by 
reason of this fact, that the statement in John (vii: 
39), receives its force, at least in part. But under 
the Gospel, which is the "ministration of the Spirit/' 
in contrast with the legal dispensation all obedient 
believers receive the Holy Spirit^ thus verifying the 
declaration in John vii : 37, 39. 



48 MOODY YERStJS CJHIlISl* 

We may safely concede that Abel, Enoch, and 
SToali possessed the Spirit of God; and that with 
Enoch and I^oah he was the^Spirit of inspiration. 
Coming down this side the flood, we can enroll 
amongthe number : Shem, Abraham, Moses, Joshna, 
Samuel, David, Solomon and all the prophets down 
to Malachi. There were a few others to whom God 
gave his Spirit for special service, or for a particular 
work, even to some whose hearts were not right in His 
sight, as in the case of Balaam, Saul and some others. 
But the main point I wish to state is this : That^ while 
the whole nation of Israel teas regarded as the people of 
God^ and so styled by God himself yet only a small 
number of them had the Spirit of God. Row^ then, did 
they 

RESIST THE HOLY SPIRIT? 

I will answer this highly important question ; im- 
portant because of its bearing on the whole subject. 

"Ye stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and 
ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your 
fathers did, so do yeJ^ Acts vii : 51-53. 

Stephen charges the Jews with always resisting 
the Holy Spirit; that they were "uncircumcised in 
heart and ears," and resisted the Holy Spirit "as 
their fathers did." And how did their fathers resist 
the Holy Spirit ? By persecuting their prophets and 
rejecting the word of God spoken by them. Hear 
Nehemiah: "Yet many years didst thou forbear 
them, and testifiedst against them by thy Spirit in thy 
prophets J^ Chap, ix : 30. Again : " Yea, they made 
their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should 



I 



AND HIS APOSTLES. 49 

hear the law, and tlie words wMch the Lord of hosts 
hath sent in Ms Spirit by the fanner prophets J^ Zech. 
vii : 12. 

This settles the question as to how the Israelites 
"resisted the Holy Spirit.'' They did not resist the 
Holy Spirit in themselves, nor operating in naked 
impact or comi^act with their minds or hearts ; but 
they resisted the Holy Spirit which was in, and 
spake by their prophets the inspired teaching and 
divine commands of God. 

Now, coming down to the birth of John the Baptist, 
and of our Lord Jesus Christy I may remark that 
John^s mission being a special one, he was "filled 
with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb ; " and 
in the account of the wonderful events of those times, 
we learn that Zacharias, Elizabeth, and Mary, were 
all filled with the Holy Spirit ; and the venerable old 
Simeon and the prophetess Anna also received the 
Spirit. And the Lord Jesus Christ received the 
Holy Spirit without measure, for ''^God gave not the 
Spirit by measure unto Him." John iii : 34. From 
this point there is no intimation that any one received 
the Holy Spirit until "Jesus was glorified," if we 
except the " power and authority " which He gave 
the twelve Apostles and the seventy when He sent 
them forth to preach "to the lost sheep of the house 
of Israel;" and that was the Spirit of power to 
"heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast 
out demons," etc. Matt, x : 7, 8. Luke x : 1-17. As 
yet" Jesus had not been glorified," and His disciples 
had not been 



60 MOOBY VERSUS CHRIST 

BAPTIZED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. 

The first tliat we hear of this baptism is in the 
preaching of John the Baptist. Matt, iii: 11. Mark, 
i: 8. Luke iii: 16. 

There is not a case on record of the baptism of 
the Holy Spirit before "Jesus was glorified.'' To 
baptize in or with the Holy Spirit, was the exclusive 
prerogative of 

THE GLORIFIED LORD. 

" I baptize in water,'' said John; " but Se shall baptize 
you in the holy Spirit.^^ No prophet, apostle or evan- 
gelist ever baptized any one with or in the Holy 
Spirit, since the world began! This prerogative, 
power or authority was never conferred on man. 
The apostles were never commanded to baptize with 
the Holy Spirit, nor did they have the power to do it. 
This statement of fact is worthy of being remembered. 

I now come to the 

PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT. 

" If ye love me, ke'ep my commandments. And I 
will pray the Father, and he shall give you another 
Comforter, that he may abide with you forever ; even 
the Spirit of truth ; whom the world cannot receive 
because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him : but 
ye know him ; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be 
in you." John xiv : 15-17. Here we have the promise 
of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to the Apostles or 
Christ. He says of Him, " whom the world cannot 
receive," and gives two reasons, first, "because it 
(the world) seeth Him not 5 " secondly, the world 



AND HIS APOSTLES. 61 

"knoweth Him" not. "But you," my Apostles^ 
"know Him for he dwelleth with you " (in the person 
of Christ), " and shall be in youy Again : Christ 
assured His Apostles that, " He shall teach you all 
things^ and bring all things to your remembrance^ what- 
soever 1 have said unto you/^ Again : " Howbeit, 
when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide 
you into all truth/^ John xvi : 13. 

Let it be noted that the mission of the Comforter 
to the Apostles, was "to teach them all things;" to 
" guide them into all truth." And let it be further 
noted that, the Comforter or- Holy Spirit did not come 
until the day of Pentecost ; that if Christ "had not 
gone away;" had not ascended to heaven; and had 
not been "glorified," the Comforter would not have 
come. "If I go not away, the Comforter will not 
come unto you ; but if I depart I will send him unto 
you." I^ow we can fully understand why "the Holy 
Spirit was not given because Jesus was not yet 
glorified." 

The Apostles were not baptized with the Holy 
Spirit until they were " endowed with power from on 
high," and they were directed to " tarry at Jerusalem " 
for this endowment; and after Christ had arisen 
from the dead, and just before his ascension, He 
" commanded them that they should not depart from 
Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, 
which ye have heard of Me. For John truly baptized 
with water ; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy 
Spirit not many days hence.^^ Acts i : 4, 5. I have now 
brought this point up to the day of Pentecost, when 
the Comforter came for the first tim<&^ md th^ dis* 



52 MOODY VERSUS CHRIST 

ciples were baptized with the Holy Spirit ; the first 
and only baptism of this kind up to this date. And 
now I am prepared to state, that the language in 
John XX : 19-23, does not necessarily indicate any 
immediate impartation of the Spirit to the Apostles, 
and cannot, indeed, be so construed, ''because Jesus 
was not yet glorified ; '' nor was He glorified until he 
had been crowned in heaven; and then, and not be- 
fore, the Comforter came. The Scripture above re- 
ferred to, is evidently the commission as recorded 
by John, as I have previously shown. 
I will now briefly direct attention to the 

MISSION OF THE SPIRIT TO THE WORLD. 

'^ The world cannot receive him;'' but ''when he 
is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of 
righteousness, and of judgment.'' This was his mis- 
sion to the world. He would reprove them, not by 
any special or direct operation upon or within them ; 
not by first entering into them, for they cannot re- 
ceive him, but in and by testifying for Christ. Hence, 
Jesus says : " Se shall testify of meP " And ye also," 
my Apostles, " shall bear witness, because ye have 
been with me from the beginning." And again: 
"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy 
Spirit is come upon you : and ye shall he witnesses 
unto me both in Jerusalem^ and in all Judea, and in 
Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth." 
John XV : 26, 27. Acts i : 8. With this agrees the 
words of Peter : " And we are Sis ivitnesses of these 
things ; and so is also the Holy Spirit^ whom God 
hath given to them that obey Him.^^ Acts v: 32. Many 
other passages might be quoted, but these are sufB.- 



AND HIS APOSTLES- 63 

» 

cient to establish the fact, that the Holy Spirit re- 
proves or convicts the world by testimony. The 
evidence may be classed thus : 1. The testimony 
of the prophets. 2. The testimony of John the Bap- 
tist. 3. The testimony of the Father. 4. The signs 
and wonders wrought by Christ. 5. The testimony 
of the Apostles, and 6. All the?e attested by the 
Holy Spirit, who enabled the Apostles to confirm 
their testimony, and so vindicate and establish the 
claims of Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the Living 
God. But was it of all sin^ or of some particular sin 
or sins^ the Spirit was to reprove or convict the 
world ? Let the record answer : '^ Of sin^ because 
thei/ believe not on me : Of righteousness , because I 
go to my Father, and ye see me no more "—(no longer :) 
^^ 0/ judgment y because the iirince of this world is 
judgedP Xo one^, I think, can read what I have now 
quoted, and not come to the conclusion that the mis- 
sion of the Spirit, so far as the world is concerned, 
is to vindicate the claims of Jesus Christ, and to con- 
vict the world of unbelief That is the great sin, and 
not sin or sins in general, such as lying, cheating, 
fornication, blasphemy, drunkenness, etc. To con- 
vict the world of these was not the purpose for which 
the Holy Spirit came down from heaven on the day 
of Pentecost, and baptized the Apostles ! " By the 
law is the knowledge of sin " — all sins like these. 
Hence, it is clear that the " sin '' referred to is that 
of unbeliefs '^because they believe not on meJ^ And 
it is the '' righteousness '' of Christ that is grandly 
vindicated by the Holy Spirit. He was condemned 
as a malefactor by " the prince of the world," and 



54 MOODY YEESUS CHKIST 

when He ascendedto His Father's throne, f/z^ earthly 
sentence icas reversed, and the Holy Spirit came down 
in Jerusalem, where He had suffered death as a vile 
impostor and malefactor, and triumphantly and glori- 
ously vindicated His high claims. And this is the 
way the Holy Spirit reproved '^the world of sin, of 
righteousness, and of judgment." And so, then and 
now, the Holy Spirit and the Apostles are His wit- 
nesses everywhere, even unto the uttermost parts of 
the earth. 

Mr. Moody believes in the "baptism of the Holy 
Spirit " now, and even prays for it. In this he is not 
alone. Most preachers of the revival school profess 
to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, and some of 
them even add "the fire I '' Indeed, they profess to 
be baptized with the Holy Spirit again, and again. 
They" pray for a fresh baptism.'' I need not dwell on 
this fact, for it is well known to all who have heard 
him preach or read his sermons. There are only two 
cases on record of the baptism of the Holy Spirit; 
one of the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, and the 
other the family of Cornelius. In both instances 
" they spake with tongues and prophesied." In both 
cases lie came as a icitness. "And with great power 
gave the Apostles icitness of the resurrection of the 
Lord Jesus." Actsiv: 33. The Messiahship, divin- 
ity, and lordship of Jesus were fully sustained by the 
testimony of the Apostles and of the Holy Spirit on 
the day of Pentecost, by signs and wonders and 
mighty deeds. In the house of Cornelius the bap- 
tism of the Spirit was for a different purpose. On 
Pentecost- it was to convince the world, reprove the 



AND HIS APOSl^LIiS. 65 

Unbelieving, and establish the religion of Jesus. In 
the family of Cornelius it was designed to break 
down Jewish prejudice, demolish the middle wall of 
partition between Jews and Gentiles, so as to make 
of the twain one new man in Christ Jesus, and open 
wide the door of salvation to the Gentile world, that 
the gospel might be preached to every creature. 
Thus the Spirit was poured on "all flesh/^ according 
to the prophesy of Joel. And Paul, in speaking of 
the unity of the one body and the diversity of the 
spiritual gifts, and evidently referring to the baptism 
of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost and in the 
family of Cornelius, says: "For by one Spirit are 
we all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Gen- 
tiles^ whether hond or free ^ and have been all made 
to drink into one Spirit.'' 1 Cor. xii: 13. 

This statement of the Apostle confirms my exposi- 
tion of the baptism of the Spirit in the household of 
Cornelius, where "Gentiles/' "bond and free," be- 
came members of the one body of Christ. True^the 
baptism of the Spirit in this case, preceded their 
obedience in baptism ; but the reason of this may be 
found in the exposition already given, and in the 
words of Peter : " Can any man forbid water, that 
these should not be baptized, which have received 
the Holy Spirit as well as we ? " Knowing the power 
of Jewish prejudice, he supposed his " six Jewish 
brethren" would object, and hence he puts the ques- 
tion. " And he commanded them to be baptizedin the 
name of the Lord." When Peter went to Jerusalem 
some of his Jewish brethren " contended with him " 
about this matter, and he gives this testimony in justi- 



56 MOODY VERSUS CHKIST 

fication of his conduct: "Forasmuch, then, as God 
gave them ^/i6 Wkegift as unto us, who believed on the 
Lord Jesus Christ, what was I, that I could with- 
stand God! '' Acts xi: 17. It was in this way that 
God " bore them icitness^ gi^^ii^g them the Holy Spirit, 
even as to us ; And put no difference between us (Jews) 
and them (Gentiles), purifyi^'G their hearts by 
FAITH.'' Acts XV : 8, 9. 

The baptism of the Spirit was a witness — gave tes- 
timony, but "their hearts were purified by faith" in 
Christ, and then they were " baptized in the name of 
the Lord.'' 

MR. 3I00DY'S confusion. 

Mr. Moody's utterances about the Holy Spirit are 
exceedingly confused. If he understands it, he has 
a very unfortunate way of expressing his thoughts. 
He prays to God to teach him what his work is. He 
says : 

^'O. may the Spirit of the Lord come upon iis to-night, and 
mav every one of iis be tauo-ht by the Holv Ghost what our 
work is, and may we be ready to do it." — Glad TiDixGS,page 53. 

I^ow, what does he mean by this ? The Holy Spirit 
teaches in words, the words of God. Does Mr. 
Moody expect to be taught in this way ? Does the 
Spirit reveal to him or others what their work is ? 
May not he, and all others, find their work in the 
Scriptures ? 

Again he says : 

" Every holy man that has ever spoken in this world, has been 
inspired and prompted by the Holy Ghost, and has been moved 
by the Holy Ghost to speak ; and if he has not been so moved, 



AND HIS APOSTLES. 57 

the words are just like the clouds, they will soon be gone and 
be of no permanent eflect." '^ They won't last; but the words 
that abide and live forever are the Avoj'ds prompted by the Holy 
Ghost, or accompanied by the Holy Ghost." 

The above is a very sweeping declaration. Have 
all the good men, such as Mr. Moody calls "holy 
men," since the Apostolic age, been "inspired?" 
Were their words prompted by the Holy Spirit? 
These statements of Mr. Moody involve the notion 
of a special and divine call to preach, and it may be 
that Mr. Moody himself claims to have been "moved 
by the Holy Ghost to preach," and that he is "in- 
spired." He certainly claims to be " anointed for 
service" — special service, and believes others are. 
But in reply to all this, I will say, That when men are 
"inspired" and "moved by the Holy Spirit to preach," 
they always deliver God's message pure and unmixed ! 
Their utterances are consistent^ harmonious and 
truthful. They preach the words, and not the dreams 
of their own distempered imaginations. And he who 
supposes or believes that all the preachers in Christ- 
endom, who are regarded as good or holy men, are 
"inspired," and w^ere " moved by the Holy Spirit " to 
preach their vagaries, the "doctrines of men," the 
"traditions of their fathers, and the dogmas of a 
stale and scholastic theology, has a thousand-fold 
more faith than the writer ; no1> faith in God, nor the 
word of God; but faith in the undigested specula- 
tions of men who are not "inspired," and were never 
"moved" hj the Holy Ghost to teach or preach. It 
is sad to think how many contrary and absurd things 
are ascribed to the Holy Spirit 5 things which cannot 



68 MOODY VERSUS CHRIST 

be reconciled with each other, nor with the word of 
God. 

But let us hear Mr. Moody again: 

" It would be very easy for the Holy Ghost to convict every 
man here of sin. Then shall we not ask him to do It ? All that 
he has to do is to open a man's eyes, and he will see at once that 
he is a sinner." Again : '' Why is it that when the Holy Ghost 
wakes up some men they get so angry ? " "I do not believe a 
man was ever convicted of sin by smy preacher in the world. It 
is the work of the Holy Ghost. If he does not do it they won't 
be converted." 

All this in its crude and undigested form, is very- 
strange. 
But hear him again : 

" He (God) has done everything that He could do toward your 
salvation. You need not wait for God to do anything more." 
— Glad Tidings, pages 99, 281. 

Perhaps Mr. Moody can reconcile these disjointed, 
incoherent, and clashing statements. 
Again : 

" What we want to do is to let the Hol}^ Ghost work in his 
own way, and he will impart hope; and the Holy Ghost is very 
hopeful the moment he gets in I ". 

Once more : 

^^The Holy Ghost is our teacher. He will teach us and show 
us things to come."— G. T., pp. 278, 283. 

Will the Spirit " show us things to come'' in or ouf 
of God's word? Will he do it by communicating 
them directly to the mind, or must we read and 
learn them in his inspired word? Mr. Moody more 
thaa intimates that he will teach us directly! He 



AND HIS APOSTLES* 60 

Speaks of the Spirit opening the eyes — his eyes, and 
says — "some people do not believe in the super* 
natural working of the Spirit, and the supernatu» 
ral power of his influence.'' Well, when the 
Holy Spirit opened his eyes, did he do it with or 
without the word, the gospel? Supernatural things 
are miracles, and if the Spirit of God now works 
super naturally then he opens the eyes of sinners 
miraculously, and not by means of the word of God, 
the gospel of Jesus Christ. If this be so, will Mr. 
Moody or any one else, tell me how "faith comes by 
hearing the word of God,'' as he says it does ; and 
"not by praying, feeling," or anything of that sort? 
Speaking of the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, 
he says: "They must have been converted by the 
potver of the Holy Ghost away back where it is said, 
"the Holy Ghost breathed upon them." And yet 
on page 469, referring to the same breathing^ he says, 
" of course His disciples had been converted before 
this ! " What a confusion of thoughts and state- 
ments we have here! They are very remarkable 
misquotations and contradictions coming from one 
who is "inspired and moved by the Holy Ghost to 
preach." He thinks we ought to be " imbued with 
power from on high;" that "we do not tarry at 
Jerusalem until we get the power ;" and that we can 
be filled "with the Holy Ghost as were the early 
Christians." And then, speaking of himself, of his 
"anointing for service," he says: "But after four 
months the anointing came. It came upon me as I 
was walking in the streets of New York. Many a 
time I have thought of it since I have been here. 



60 MOODY VERSUS CHRIST 

At last I had returned to God again, and I was 
wretched no longer. I almost prayed in my joy, 
" O stay Thy hand ! '' I thought this earthen vessel 
would break. He filled me so full of the Spirit.'' — 
G. T., page 471. 

The reader will see from the quotations and com- 
ments already made, in what light Mr. Moody re- 
gards the operations of the Holy Spirit. Much more 
could be collected from his numerous sermons, but I 
have neither time nor space for more. I will add a 
few remarks 

ON PRAYINa TO THE SPIRIT. 

This is another feature in Mr. Moody's teaching, 
and in the prayers of his co-laborers, which demands 
some attention. And just here I will remark that, 
there is not in the whole Bible, from Genesis to the 
Apocalypse, so far as known to me, a single instance 
on record, where saint or sinner, prophet or priest. 
Apostle or Christian every addressed a prayer to the 
Holy Spirit. This fact, if fact it be, merits special 
notice. 

But this practice is very common with some re- 
ligionists, and among such revivalists as Mr. Moody. 
On one occasion in St. Louis, when he preached on 
"the Holy Spirit," Dr. Brookes prayed, and among 
other things said : " May he (the Spirit) take of the 
things of Christ and revealiliem unto us." Dr. Boyd 
prayed: "Breathe thy power into our hearts, O 
Thou most Holy Spirit, for Christ's sake." 

Now, our prayers should be addressed to God, in 
the name of Jesus Christ. We may call on God 



AND HtS APOSTLES. 61 

tJirovgh Jesus Christ, /or the Holy Spirit. It is right 
for Christians to pray for the Spirit, because it is 
promised to all that obey our Lord. Matt, vii : 11. 
Luke xi: 11-13. But sinners^ unbelievers, cannot 
pray for it. They have not the promise of the Holy 
Spirit. Neither is it Scriptural for Christians to pray 
to God to ''pour out His Spirit'' on sinners. They 
^'cannot receive the Spirit,'' and Christians have no 
authority to make such a petition. I have thus 
briefly adverted to this point, and will now close my 
remarks on this subject by answering the question, 

WHO MAY RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT? 

The Apostles received both the ordinary and ex- 
traordinary gifts of the Spirit on Pentecost. They 
alone had the power to impart special gifts of the 
Spirit by the imposition of their hands. These points 
need not be argued. But, beginning with the Birth- 
day of the Church, Pentecost, Peter, in answer to the 
inquiry, "Men and brethren, what shall we do? 
replied: "Eepent and be baptized every one of you 
in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of 
sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy SpiritP 
They obeyed, and doubtless received the Spirit. ]^or 
was this answer restricted to those present, for he 
immediately adds: "For the promise is unto you, 
and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even 
as many as the Lord our God shall call." The prom- 
ise of remission and the Holy Spirit stands good in 
all the world, and throughout all generations upon 
those conditions. And in Acts v : 32, he declares 
that God had given the Spirit "to them that obey 
Him." See 8th chap. Eomans. 



62 MOODY TERSUS CHRIST' 

Again, we read: "And because ye are sons, God 
hatli sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts 
crying, Abba, Father.'' Gal. iv : 6. 

Christians are temples of the Holy Spirit. 1 Oor. 
iii : 16, 17. " And if any man have not the Spirit ox 
Christ, he is none of his.'' Eom. viii : 9. Christians 
should be filled with the Spirit. Sinners "resist the 
Spirit" by rejecting the gospel which is attested by 
the Spirit. Christians "grieve" and "quench the 
Spirit " in their own hearts by disobedience. 

Mr. Moody himself says : " The Holy Ghost dwells 
with only those that have been cleansed by the 
blood." " We are washed and cleansed by the blood, 
and when a soul is washed and cleansed by the 
precious blood of Christ, then it becomes a temple 
for the Holy Ghost to dwell in ! " 



i.ND HIS APOSTLES. 63 



CHAPTER IV, 



THE i^EW BIETH. 



Mr. Moody is very " orthodox " on the new birth, 
as the following quotations will show : 

"They are dead in sin until the Holy Ghost brings them to 
life, until the Spirit of God moves upon the waters. There is 
no life or power for a man to serve God until he is first horn of the 
Spirit^ until he has been quickened {mude alive) by the Holy 
Ghost, until he has been raised as Christ's dead body was raised. 
So dead souls must be raised, and when they have been raised 
by that power, then they can serve God."~G. T., pp. 275, 276. 

This is surely strong enough for even the hyper- 
Oalvinist. 
Let us hear him again : 

" Some one said to me the other day that he understood about 
lelief but could not understand what it was to be born again. I 
told him that he that believed had life eternal, and whoever re^^ 
ceived life through Christ was born again." — G. T,, pp. 4, 94, 

Now, right by the side of the above, let me quote 
from his sermon on "Ye must be born again.^' He 
says : He (God) lias done everything that He could do 
toward your salvation. You need not wait for God 
to do anything more.'^ (G. T., pp. 98, 99). And still, 
man is " dead and has no life or power to serve God 
until he is first born of the Spirit.^^ "God has done 



64 MOODY VERSUS CHRIST 

everytliing that He could do." " You need not ^ait 
for Him to do anything more!" And yet you are 
dead, and cannot do anything yourself, cannot serve 
God, '• until born of the Spirit : " " untU made alive by 
the Holy Ghost;" '-until raised as Christ's dead 
body was raised!" Tell it not in Gath! Publish it 
not in the streets of Askelon, lest the uncircumcised 
rejoice! And is this the gospel that converts so 
many people? Is this the gospel of the Holy Ghost? 
The poor man is dead, and is told he can do nothing. 
And, to cap the climax, he is told that God has done 
all He could, and that he need not wait for Him to 
do more! 

Surely I need quote no more from Mr. Moody on 
this subject. I turn away from this Babylonish diar 
lect, this confusion worse confounded, to 

THE TEACHI^^a OF CHRIST. 

Mr. Moody says "the church and the world are 
confounded " on the new birth, and yet that it is " im- 
portant and jf^Ztti?^;" that "it is the very foundation 
of our hope, and the very foundation of our religion." 

It is no wonder that " the church and the world are 
confounded," with such teachers as he is to instruct 
them on the subject. And if it be as important as 
he represents it, it ought to be better understood; 
and if it is so " plain," it is strange that he, himself, 
does not understand it. 

Nicodemus was a Jew, and had the faith and hope 
of a Jew. Like the rest of his people, he predicated 
everything on his Abrahamic descent. He was a 
representative man, and spoke the sentiments of his 



AND HIS APOSTLES. 65 

people. " We know that thou art a teacher come from 
God, for no man can do the miracles that thou doest, 
except God be with him.'' This, no doubt, was the 
general sentiment at that time. Our Lord paid no 
attention to this voluntary declaration of Nicodemus, 
but at once strikes a blow at all his fleshly hopes. 
John the Baptist had done this on a former occasion, 
when he said to the people : '' And think not to say 
within yourselves, we have Abraham to our father : 
for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones 
to raise up children unto Abraham.'' Matth. iii : 9. 

Christ, in His conversation with Nicodemus, at 
once turns his attention away from his fleshly Abra- 
hamic descent to a higher birth — a birth from above. 
And hence He says to him, " Except a man be born 
again, {avuBEv — from above), he cannot see the king- 
dom of God." Mcodemus has no conception of such 
a birth, and says : " How can a man be born when he 
is old? Can he enter the second time into his moth- 
er's womb, and be born ? " Jesus replied : " Except 
a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot 
enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born 
of the flesh is flesh ; and that which is born of the 
Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye 
must be born again." John iii: 3-8. 

Mr. Moody often mutilates the word of God, and 
in this way puts language into the mouths of the 
sacred writers which they never used. He does so 
in this case, when he quotes Christ as saying : " Ex- 
cept ye are born of the Spirit, ye cannot enter into 
the kingdom of God." But He did not say that 5 
those are not His words, as any one can see, 



66 MOODY YERSUS CHBIST 

Christ speaks of a birth and a kingdom. The birth, 
from above is illustrated by the earthly or fleshly 
birth. The term horn has only two senses — to beget, 
and to bring forth. It has no third sense. 

The process of the new birth is the same. God, or 
the Spirit of God, begets. The instrumentality is the 
gospel. The seed is the word of God. The birth 
itself, or bringing forth is, ex liudatos^ out of the water ; 
and when this process is completed, then the man is 
'^ horn of ivater and Sjnrit^^^ as Christ says. 

In proof of all I have here stated, I refer to the 
following scriptures: "He came unto His own 
(land,) and His own (people) receiyed Him not. But. 
as many as received Him, to them gave He power 
to become the sons of God, even to them that 
believed on His name.'' 

I pause here to state, that Mr. Moody often quotes 
a part of this text in his sermons ; indeed, he says it 
is his favorite text ; and yet, with all his regard for 
it, he mutilates it, and generally ends with the word 
"power.'* But the text is directly against him, and 
it is strange he does not see it. 

Those who " received Him," who " believed on His 
name," to them, and them only, " He gave poicer " or 
privilege to " become the Sons of God." They were 
not already sons by "believing on His name" alone, 
but He gave them "power to become" what, as yet, 
they were not — "the Sons of God." Let the reader - 
ponder this. 

"Which were born (or begotten), not of blood, nor 
of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of 
God:' 



AND HIS APOSTLES* Wt 

The new Dirth originates with God^ and is therefore 
from above. 

As to the instrumentality, Panl says of the Corin* 
thians : " I have begotten you through the GospeU^ I. 
Cor. iv: 15. 

As to the seed, Peter says : " Being born again, not 
of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the 
word of God, which liveth and abideth forever." I. 
Peter, i : 23. 

And, as to the final act, or coming forth, it is exhu- 
datos — out of the water. It begins expneumatos^ out 
of the spirit, indicating its source ; and ends ex huda- 
tos^ out of the water. And, then, as the newly born 
infant inhales the air of heaven, so, " because you 
are sonSj God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son 
into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.'' 

I agree with Mr. Moody, that the subject is 
"plain,'' but not as he presents it. But will the 
reader be astonished to learn that, notwithstanding 
it is ''plain," Mr. Moody says it is " mysterious," and 
cannot be "reasoned out"? And, in proof of this, 
he quotes and comments on the 8th verse: "The 
wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the 
sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, 
and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of 
the Spirit." Mcodemus replied: "How can these 
things be ?" Jesus answered : " Art thou a master 
of Israel, and knowest not these things f Could 
Mcodemus understand it? Jesus seems to express 
surprise at his ignorance: "Art thou a master of 
Israel, and hnowest not these things ?" But " unbe- 
lief" was the main trouble with Mcodemus: "If I 



68 MOODY VEBSTIS CHBIST 

have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, ho'W 
shall you believe, if I tell you heavenly things ?" 

The 8th verse has been a bone of contention among 
theologians for generations. I offer the following 
brief exegesis: 

1. I think there is no " wind '' in the text, however 
windy men's interpretations of it may be. It is 
pneuma in the Greek, and is uniformly rendered Spirit 
throughout this chapter. But, whether it be wind or 
Spirit, the meaning of the text is the same, as we 
shall soon see. 

2. Two things are compared — not their mode or 
manner^ but the things themselves. The mode or 
manner of being born, is not the point in the passage. 
The comparison or illustration relates to the person 
horUj already born, and the wind or Spirit, whichever 
word you adopt : " So is every one (every person) that 
is BORN of the Spirit J^ The language implies that the 
process of being born is completed^ and now, the pro- 
duct of the birth is like the wind or spirit in some 
way. What is that likeness f I answer, freedom or 
liberty. If we say it is the wind, then the wind is 
free; "it blows where it pleases.'' If we say it is the 
spirit, then the spirit is free. David prayed, "Uphold 
me by Thy free spirit ; " and Paul says, " Where the 
spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." Jesus said to 
the Jews : " And ye shall know the truth, and the 
truth shall make jOMfreeP They said, "We be Abra- 
ham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man : 
how sayest thou, ye shall be made free." John viii: 
32-36. 

Jesus taught them that "Whosoever committeth 



IKD HIS APOSTLES. 69 

•in is the servant (or slave) of sin/^ and then adds : 
"If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall 
be free indeed.'^ 

3. All men living in sin are in bondage. The Jews 
were in bondage under the Old Covenant. Paul 
beautifully illustrates the new birth, and the liberty 
of those who are born again, or born from above, in 
the 4th chapter of Galatians. He speaks of being 
"in bondage under the elements of the world,'' until 
Christ came " to redeem them that were under the 
law, that we might receive the adoption of sonsP He 
introduces an allegory to illustrate the Old and New 
Covenants. " Abram had two sons, the one by a bond 
woman,'' Agar, representing the Old Covenant from 
Mount Sinai, " which gendereth " or bringeth forth 
children " to bondage ; " " the other by a free woman.'' 
The son "by the bond woman was born after the 
flesh; but he of the free woman by promise." And 
he says " this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and an- 
swers to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage 
with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is 
free, which is the mother of us all." What a beau- 
tiful illustration ! The children of slaves are slaves. 
The children of the free are free. And all who are 
born again are free ! They have the glorious liberty 
of the children of God! They should now stand fast 
in the liberty wherewith Christ has made them free. 
They are born of God, born of water and spirit. 
They belong to the Family or Church of God, and 
Jesus Christ is their elder Brother I 



'4^ MOODY VERSUS 0Hi^IS3? 



CHAPTER V, 



THE OBEDIElSrCE OF FAITH. 



On the subject of obedience Mr. Moody speaks 
strongly, but in general terms. As the subject now 
in hand, is a very important one, I will let him freely 
speak for himself. Mr. Moody keeps Christ, faith 
and the Holy Ghost prominently before his hearers, 
but "fails to declare the whole counsel of God.'V He 
" rings the changes '' on " Come to Jesus," but fails 
to tell the people how to come. It is "believe! be- 
lieve ! believe ! '' And when they ask, what must we 
believe? What is his reply? "You are to believe 
God's word; you are to take God at His word, and 
.trust him for salvation.'' 

- This is certainly true, but it is expressed in general 

terms, and is not such an answer as a penitent sinner 

cr wants. "Every soul here to-night may be saved, if 

Jie will only take God at His word." "It is just 

simply believing on him." — G. T., p. 419. 

Eeferring to the case of Saul and the Amelekites 
in illustration of disobedience, Mr. Moody says: 
"Now, Samuel says to Saul, 'To obey is better than 
sacrifice.' What God wants is obedience, and. you 
have disobeyed him again." " Let us learn a lesson 
from Saul. Let us obey God. 'To obey God is bet- 



AND HIS APOSTHBS. 71 

tier than sacrifice.' It is obedience that God wants. 
You may ask, " What may I do to obey God ? " You 
axe just to believe on his Son and be saved. Will, 
you obey Him to-day ? ''— G. T., p. 313 

Here was a fine opportunity for Mr. Moody to 
give the true answer, but he did not do it. He says 
enough about faith, but ignores "the obedience of 
faith.'' 

And yet, while he "links faith and salvation" in 
such close proximity as to make salvation wholly de- 
pendent on faith, with no other condition expressed 
or implied, he does, in a few of his sermons, allude 
to repentance ; though, if his views of faith and sal- 
vation be correct, the order must necessarily be, 
faith, salvation, repentance ! 

But let us hear him on repentance: "Any man or 
any woman here to-night, who will repent and turii; . 
to God, God will save them." Again: "If you are 
lost — if you die in your sin — whose fault is it? God 
has commanded you to repent and to seek salvation 
at once.''— G. T., pp. 151, 268. 

Mr. Moody, then, does teach repentance; but he 
compresses faith, salvation and repentance into a 
nut-sheU, and gives but little margin for anything < 
whatever. 

It is instantaneous, like a flash of lightning from 
the clouds; and hence he says of Zaccheus, "He 
must have been converted getting down" the tree! 
"It was right in the air, between the branches and 
the ground."— G. T., p. 122. 

And, then, Mr. Moody makes a little Scripture as 
he goes along; he says, " He (Christ) told Zaccheua^ 



73 KOODY VERSUS CHRIST 

that that was the last time he should pass that iray." 
And while on spurious Scripture I will quote an- 
other sample : " Paul says, ' Jacob will leave his ail- 
ments in the grave. ' " — pp. 121, 435. 

But to return : As little space as Mr. Moody finds 
for faith' and salvation, he not only gets repentance 
in somewhere but also confession. I quote one 
passage : *' Now, I say to you that confession is as 
important as faith. ' With the heart man believeth 
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession 
is made unto salvation.^ " — P. 180. 

This is very good, but the difBiculty is, that the 
confession comes not " unto," but after the salvation ; 
for, according to Mr. Moody's theory, he is saved the 
** moment^' he believes! 

Having now advanced so far in my review of Mr. 
Moody's revival theology, I will hear him 

ON BAPTISM. 

**Nor will being baptized do you any good. Yet you hear 
people say, " Why, I have been baptized, and T was bom again 
-when I was baptized." They believe that because they ai'e 
baptized into the church they are baptized into the kingdom of 
God. I tell you that is utterly impossible. You may be bap- 
tized into the visible church, and yet not be baptized into the 
Son of God. Baptism is all right in its place. God forbid that 
I should say anything against it. But if you put it in the place 
of regeneration — in the place of a new birth — it is a terrible 
mistake. You cannot be baptized into the kingdom of God. If 
I thought I could baptize men into the kingdom of God it would 
be a good deal better for me to do that than to preach. I should 
get a bucket of water and go up and down the streets, and save 
men that way. If they would not let me do it while they were 
awake, I would do it while they were asleep. I would do it 
any how.' * Except you are born of the Spirit, ye cannpt enter 



AND HIS APOSTLES. IB 

Into the kingdom of God.' What has a sacfatiielit to do with 
that ? What has baptism to do with being born again ? "— G. T., 
p. 88* # 

I have quoted this long passage in order to do Mr. 
Moody ample justice. He does not speak reverently 
of baptism. He does not speak of it as one should 
speak of a divine ordinance. He begins by saying: 
"Nor will being baptized do you any good." And, 
having said this, he blunders on to the end. But can 
the reader help recalling all the good things he has 
said about the word of God and obedience ? Has he 
not said time and again that " A thus saith the Lord 
is enough?" Has he not exhorted his hearers to 
" take God at His word ? ^' 

Hear him again : " If God tells us to do a thing wo 
are to do it ; if he tells us to believe a thing, we aro 
to believe it ; we are to have faith in God." — p. 174. 

It is evident Mr. Moody has no just conception of 
the importance and design of baptism. He says 
" baptism is all right in its place," but fails to tell his 
hearers where its place is. He seems not to know 
what to do with it. It is an "elephant" on his 
hands ! It will " do no good," but is '' all right in its 
place." " God forbid that I should say any thing 
against it." He speaks of being " baptized into the 
church," " into the kingdom of God," " into the visi- 
ble church," and " into the Son of God," and says to 
put it "in the place of regeneration" or "a new 
birth," would be "a terrible mistake." He says, 
men " cannot be baptized into the kingdom of God," 
and that if he thought he could do it, he would 
"get a bucket of water, and go up and down 



74 MOODY YEilStrS CHBIST 

the streets, and save men in tliat way/^ And that if 
they would not let him do it "while they were 
awake,'' he "would do it while they were asleep.'' 
He ^' would do it any how." And he asks, " what has 
baptism to do with being born again ?" He says, 
" God forbid I should say any thing against it," and 
"still takes care to say nothing in its favor, except 
that " it is all right in its place," leaving it to his 
hearers to find its place, for he does not pretend to 
know, or, if he does, he will not tell. 

I have already directed attention to the great com- 
mission under which the Apostles acted, and I only 
refer to it now to make a few additional remarks. 
The commission as recorded by Mark^ links faith, 
baptism and salvation together ; as recorded by Luke 
it links repentance and remission of sins together ; 
and as recorded by both Mark and Luke we have 
faith, repentance, baptism, and remission of sins, or 
salvation, linked together ; and for all this we have 
"A thus saiththe Lord." The commission is backed 
by "all authority in heaven and in earth." 

The Apostles preached under this authority, and 
practiced in harmony with the commission. And 
they rarely ever preached without speaking of bap- 
tism. Acts ii: 38, is an example of this, and "they 
that gladly received his word were baptized." 

And when Philip preached Christ unto the people 
of Samaria, and "they believed Philip preaching the 
things concerning the kingdom of God and the name 
of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and 
women." Acts viii : 12. What a marked contrast 
between Philip's preaching and its results, and the 



AND HIS APOSTLES. T5 

preaching of Mr. Moody ! And when Peter is sent for 
to Osesarea to preach to Cornelius and his house- 
hold, after they believed he "commanded them to 
be baptized in the name of the Lord.'' Acts x: 
48. How different Mr. Moody; he says "it will 
do you no good,'' and talks of taking a ^' bucket,'^ 
yes, a " bucket of water," and baptizing people 
" asleep " or " awake." What a burlesque on a 
divine ordinance, and that, too, coming from one so 
full of the Holy Ghost he thought it would kill him ! 
And yet he says, " what was necessary for the salva- 
tion of so good a man'" as Cornelius, is "neceissary 
for us all : " yes, even the miraculous gifts of the 
Spirit, for he adds: "Let us pray that we may 
receive the Spirit as they did " ! pp. 495, 496. Again : 
Paul preached at Phillippi, and Lydia and her house- 
hold are baptized ; also the jailer and his household, 
at the hour of midnight. Such a scene as that, I 
fear, would greatly dampen Mr. Moody's zeal. He, 
judging from his teaching, would have told them, 
"Baptism will do you no good." True, "it is all 
right in its place," but wait until to-morrow ; and let 
us pray that we may be baptized with the Holy 
Ghost." Acts xvi : 15, 33. 

He preached at Corinth, "and many of the Cor- 
inthians hearing^ believed and were haptized,^^ Acts 
xV'iii: 8. Paul himself, after having been specially 
called an apostle to the Gentiles, did not hesitate to 
" be baptized and wash away his sins." Acts xxii : 16. 

Again: Philip preached to the eunuch on the 
public highway from Jerusalem to Gaza, and the 
exiiiuch. saidj " s^e^ here is watidTi, what doth hindeii 



Td MOODY VERSUS CHRIST 

me to be baptized? And Philip said, if thou be- 
lievest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he 
answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the 
Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to 
stand still : and they went down both into the water, 
both Philip and the eunuch ; and he baptized him "-^ 
and the eunuch "went on his way rejoicing.'^ Acts 
viii: 36-39. 

This is primitive and apostolic, and no contrary 
teaching is. In those days believing penitents^ and 
no others, were baptized; and they were all "bap- 
tized into the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Spirit." They were baptized in the 
name of the Lord Jesus or by his authority; they 
were "baptized into Christ, and put on Christ;" 
they were " baptized into His death, and raised up 
in the likness of His resurrection." They were " bap- 
tized for the remission of sins." So John the Baptist 
preached and baptized ; so Christ commissioned His 
Apostles; and so the Apostles and Evangelists 
preached and baptized. 

Baptism is not the " new birth," but only the com- 
pletion of it. It is not " regeneration," but the laver 
or " washing of regeneration." And it is all this only 
to penitent believers in Christ ; not to infants, unbe- 
lievers and idiots. 

Baptism is not a sectarian or denominational ordi- 
nance. It is not "the door into some church," 
"visible" nor "invisible." Christianity has nothing 
denominational about it. Baptism is not the door 
into the Episcopal, Presbyterian, Methodist, nor 
Biia^i^ dauxaii In ftpostolic times peojAe were uot 



AND HIS APOSTLES. 77 

"baptized into the fellowship of some chnrcli," bnt 
they were " baptized into Christ" "for the remission 
of sins.' ' 

Christ gave Himself for "the church, that He 
might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of 
water by the word.'' Eph. v : 25, 26. Peter says, 
"baptism saves us by the resurrection of Jesus 
Christ." I. Peter iii : 21. And Paul, in his letter to 
the Hebrews, beautifully presents the divine pro- 
cess of salvation : " Let us draw near with a true 
heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts 
sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies 
washed with pure water." Heb. x : 22. They were 
christians, and had been the subjects of this process. 
They began with "true," honest "hearts;" they 
believed, had a "full assurance of faith;" their 
"hearts were sprinkled from an evil conscience" by 
the blood of Christ ; and their "bodies washed with 
pure water." They had all been baptized ! 

Paul speaks of a "form" or mould of doctrine, 
l^ow, the gospel consists in facts to be believed^ com- 
mands to be obeyed^ and promises to be enjoyed. 
Facts cannot be obeyed, but commands can, and must 
be obeyed. Paul says to the Eomans : " But God be 
thanked, that (though) ye were the servants of sin, 
but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doc- 
trine which was delivered you." 

The " doctrine " is one thing, and its " form " or 
mould is another. The 15th chapter, 1st Corinthians, 
contains the doctrine, consisting in the death^ burial, 
and resurrection of Christ. These are the facts of 
the Gospel which can be believed, but not obeyed. 



78 MOODY VERSUS CHRIST 

Now, what is the " form '' or mould f It is baptism! 
In baptism we have represented the death, burial, 
and resurrection of Christ. Christ died, was buried, 
and rose again. We die to sin, are buried, and rise 
to a new life. We are " crucified with Christ,'' then 
" buried with Him by baptism into death,'' " wherein 
also we are risen with Him through the faith of the 
operation of God, who hath raised Him from the 
dead." Col. ii : 12. Eom. vi : 3, 4, 16. 

Baptism, then, is not the doctrine, but the form or 
mould of it ; and it fills all the demands of the case. 
And there is nothing else that can fill them. Immer- 
sion alone meets all the requirements of the doctrine. 
It is a perfect mould. But sprinkling and pouring 
are out of the question, as they do not represent a 
death, burial, and resurrection at all. The Eomans 
had "obeyed from the heart this mould of doc- 
trine," and were "then made free from sin,'^ and "be- 
came the servants of righteousness." 

We bury dead men, those who are dead /o, not in 
sin. Then we raise them up from the symbolical 
grave to walk in newness of life. We are planted 
in the likeness of Christ's death, and raised in the 
likeness of His resurrection. 



AND His APOSTLES. 7d 



CONCLUSION. 



1 have a few things to add in conclusion* 
Mr. Moody says, '' When a church is divided, no 
matter what the cause, the Spirit of God will not 
work there.'' But is it not strange that, while the 
Spirit of God will not work with a local church when 
divided, 'he will work with the divided and warring 
sects of Christendom? And may not the true expla- 
nation of this be, that men often mistake the spirit 
of the party or sect for the Spirit of Christ? And is 
it not well to "try the spirits, whether they are of 
God?'' 

Mr. Moody, in some respects, seems to ignore de- 
nominational distinctions. Hear him: 

^* So can every one be saved, no matter what church hebelongs 
to — whether he belongs to the true Apostolic Church, or to any 
other Church. The Son of God can serve in any Church, or in 
any denomination/' G. T., p. 111. "The Son of God will be in 
the right Church ; He makes no mistake." Again : " We have 
not heard a word about denominations since I have been here." 
P. 445. 

Yes; but what becomes of all of Mr. Moody's un- 
baptized converts ? Do they scatter like sheep on 
the mountains, or are they gathered into some secta- 
rian fold ? But let us hear him once more : 

" The moment he hears the word of God taught, he comes out 
of the sectarian worlds and is interested to have the cause of God 
advanced in all parts of the w^orld." G. T., p. 439. 



AND HIS APOSTLES. 80 

But are sectarianism and denominationalism broken 
down where Mr. M.'s evangelical labors have been 
most abundant? When the excitement and enthusi- 
asm inspired by the presence of Moody and Sankey 
have passed away, do not the same sects and denom- 
inations remain as proud, exclusive, and defiant as 
ever? And, as Mr. Moody belongs to a Sect, does 
he not trim his way somewhat, in order that he may 
not offend the churches where he labors? And, par- 
ticularly, does he not practically, if not in theory, 
ignore a Divine ordinance so as not to offend? Would 
not his insisting on obedience to this heaven-appoint- 
ed ordinance, dampen the zeal of his co-laborers, and 
"quench the spirit'' that animates them? Would not 
the cry, " See, here is water,'' put out the fire ? 

And yet, Mr. Moody says : 

"The first thing that God wants is obedience." " To obey is 
better than sacrifice." A blessing is promised to all that obey." 
"And God always keeps every promise He makes, and I defy 
any Infidel to show any promise He has not kept" " He has 
been true to His word for 6000 years." 

And, I ask, will he not be true to this word: "He 
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved?" 

I close with the words of Paul : " Kow to him that 
is of power to establish you according to my gospel^ 
and the preaching of Jesus Christy according to the 
revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret 
since the world began, but now is made manifest, and 
by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the 
commandment of the everlastirig Ood^ MADE KNOWN TO 
ALL NATIONS FOR THE OBEDIEKCE OF FAITH; 
to God only wise be glory through Jesus Christ for- 
ever. Amen.'' Eom. xvi : 25-27. 



Supplemental Chapter. 

Being an Inquiry Into the Reasons 
Underlying Mr. Moody's Mar- 
vellous Success as an 
Evangelist. 
—BY- 
JOSEPH H- FOY, 

Pastor Central Christian Church, Saint Louis, Mo- 



The primary purpose of the gospel is to release 
the soul from the guilt, power and punishment of 
sin — to save men already under condemnation through 
wicked works, and not to civilize or moralize thenu 
It cannot be denied that the gospel exerts a most 
wholesome influence upon the manners and morals of 
those who even partially receive it, nor can it be 
questioned that it tends from various causes to 
increase the intellectual robustness of those who 
heartily embrace it. These salutary effects are benefl 
cent secondary results of the blessed gospel, which 
is the "power of God unto salvationJ^ Jesus Christ 
came to seek and to save the lost He came not 
merely as a teacher empowered by superior virtue 
and wisdom to speak with a tone of authority — nor 
did He appear in the world's extremity to inject 



82 Moody versus chriso? 

fresh blood into its rotting carcass and to drop seed 
truths that should stamp Him as the great reformer 
merely^ of all the ages. Whatever theories may have 
been agitated in the past as to the causes requiring 
the death of the August One on the cross, the minds 
and hearts of men are gradually, but firmly settling 
down upon the conviction that He was no mere 
martyr to truth, the victim of popular resentment 
against one who had disturbed the apathy of the 
public mind by the introduction of new and unwel- 
come sentiments. A profounder principle required 
His death than the sealing of His testimony by suf- 
ferings that should prove His sincerity, be an exam- 
ple to all coming generations, and touch the sensi- 
bilities of the race through all time, i^o theory of 
govermental necessity, or of satisfaction offered to 
the ethical nature of God, meets every phase of the 
question. Man was lost and Jesus came to saveYAm. 
Moved by deepest love and. most generous sympa- 
thies. He hung upon the cross for us, and His great 
heart burst with the weight of a world's woe upon 
it. He was under no obligations to shoulder the bur- 
den or to become a victim, but the resistless tide of 
His measureless and unfathomable love swept away 
every obstruction and burst upon the world in 
streams that have gladdened, strenghtened and en- 
riched the minds and hearts of all who, in succeeding 
ages, have looked upon the lamb of God that taketh 
away the sins of the world. Every now and then the 
church seems to lose sight of Jesus as the expiation, 
the atonement, the '' only name given under heaven 
whereby we can be saved,'' and with this temporary 



AND HIS APOSTLES. 83: 

obscuration of perception come slight views of sin 
and its danger, and a decided abatement of the 
ardor of that love which would naturally be enkindled 
by a vivid conception of Jesus as a deliverer, a res- 
cuer, a Savior. If Christianity be but a system of 
superior morality, and Jesus' only claim to admira- 
tion and homage, consist solely in the elevation of 
His maxims, then indeed would many despairing 
hearts re-echo the mournful cry of the woman at the 
sepulchre, "They have taken away the hody of my 
Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him.'^ 
Christianity is robbed of its power over the hearts 
and consciences of men by any theory that takes 
away the Mood of Christ. Infidels and supple pulpit 
charlatans may sneer at the sacrificial element in 
Christianity,-— but eliminate it and you have drawn 
its life-blood, sucked out all its vigor, and left a poor 
nerveless, emasculated shadow, that cannot long 
retain the devotion of mankind. When the church 
ceases to use the gospel as a life-boat, thrust out by 
sturdy arms and brave hearts into the raging deep 
to rescue men and women that are perishing^ it 
renounces its strongest claim to the veneration and 
love of man. Platitudes about the gospel as a means 
of cultivating, softening, humanizing and refining^ 
may amuse a leisure hour, but have no power to 
quicken sluggish souls, to soothe anguished spirits, 
to arch the tomb with a bow of hope, to sustain 
earth's suffering, toiling, disappointed millions in the 
midst of Ufe's stern realities, or to comfort the 
afflicted in their weary march along a thorny way 
to Wb moumM tap of sorrow's fuueml drum. Wheu 



S4 MOODY YERSXTS CHRIST 

men's consciences have been cloyed with vapid and 
insipid sweets that have no power to alarm, vitalize 
or regenerate, up rises some rude but stalwart and 
dogmatic reformer whose vivid conception of man's 
perilous condition, of Jesus as a present Savior, 
offering an amnesty on certain conditions to a rebel- 
lious race, gives to his curt directness of appeal a 
weight with men not warranted, it may be, by schol- 
arly culture. Of late years, in particular, the pulpit 
has resounded with sky-scraping, glittering generali- 
ties, uttered by silken men who " minced damnation 
with a phrase.'' Men's consciences have been 
soothed by pulpit sirups and lulled by madrigals. 
Sin has been but a slight disharmony, and the terrors 
of a rejected gospel but the roll of drums and mimic 
thunders of the stage. Worldlings whose fears were 
not entirely throttled by lives of careless indulgence, 
clamored for a " gospel of love," meaning by the 
phrase such a proclamation of the word as should 
not awaken fears of retribution in the beyond. 
Universalism and restorationism have made immense 
inroads into various religious bodies and a senti- 
mental and wishy-washy religiosity has largely taken 
the place of an unaffected piety. The wonderful 
achievements and grand possibilities of human 
nature were so lavishly lauded by pulpit orators, 
that people began to look upon the gospel simply as 
one of the instruments used by the Almighty to uplift 
the race and not as ^^ the power of God unto salva- 
tion to every one that believeth." Indeed many 
religious leaders asserted or insinuated that Christi- 
anity was but the development or embodiment of 



AND ni8 APOSTLS8. 85 

progressiva religious thought, and that having served 
the purpose of God, it would expire by a statute of 
limitation, and give place to a new dispensation bet» 
ter adapted to an advanced and enlightened age — 
too refined indeed, to be frightened by the Devil or 
awed by allusions to undying worms or unquenchable 
fires. Amidst all this religious defibrination and soft 
play of summer lightnings from popular pulpits, a 
*' rough and hairy man'' surcharged with the electric 
force of an earnestness that makes him deliver his 
whole force at every blow, has stalked into the arena 
and struck the shield of his foe with no knightly 
bow of hollow grace, but with a clang that betokens 
mortal and unappeasable hate. And the masses have 
been thrilled and minds and hearts tired of smooth 
prophesyings and dulcet vaticinations of 

**One far-off divine event 
To which the whole creation moves," 

have been mightily stirred by a man untrained in the 
costly graces of the schools, but deeply conscious of 
ruin and the remedy. 

Much good has undoubtedly been accomplished by 
Mr. Moody, because he has not hesitated to strike 
boldly at sin — to paint its hideousness — to denounce 
its sovereignty as the rule of death, and to call atten- 
tion to Jesus as the life, the truth, and the way. 
People have instinctively felt that he was acting no 
mimetic part, but that he was terribly in earnest. 
Before him are immortal souls — above him the bran- 
dished sword of justice ready to fall, — underneath, 
the brazen vaults of hell ready to receive those who 
reiafi©hisfimthoiizedinviteti<mB to errterupotLimmor^ 



8^. MOODY YEEiSUS <JHRIST 

taJjoys. No wonder his deadly earnestness should 
affect his audiences and communicate a nev/ impulse 
to the stagnant religionism of the age. And yet we 
think that Dr. Walsh has proven beyond a reasona- 
ble doubt in the foregoing chapters, that this Moody 
and Sankey evangel^ is, after all, a mutilated and 
fragmentary gospel. Nevertheless, to our mind, he 
is far in advance of most of the popular religious 
parties of the day. Perhaps it may be the design of 
the Providence that often overrules the designs of 
bad men as well as the mistakes of good men, that 
his preaching may bridge or help to bridge the chasm 
between the simplicity of the primitive gospel and 
its modern mystical perversions. For example, Mr. 
Moody is clear and striking in his preference of the 
evidence afforded by God's word as to regeneration, 
over that drawn from physical sensations merely. 
Nervous exacerbations or psychological phenomena 
constituted at no remote period in the past^-especi- 
ally in these bodies that yet arrogantly assume to be 
exclusively evangelical, the christian's ground of 
trust that God had remitted sins and received a 
penitent into favor. Within the memory of men 
. still living, the promulgation of the doctrine that 
there are Bible conditions or New Testament meth- 
ods of appropriating the salvation provided by the 
death of Christ, was hooted at almost universally as 
a vain trust in a " dead letter," and as an attempt to 
obtain pardon through lifeless, inoperative works. 
It is a hopeful indication of progress that Mr. Moody 
oacLrPJomulge this wholesome truth to a certain 
es^iteait,; ]^. leasts , even .m the .pr^si^nce of steaigbt: 



AND HIS APOSTHES. 8? 

laced divines of Galviiiistic schools. And this move- 
ment "towards Jerusalem '' renders Mr. Moody's 
-ministration much less open to rational impugnment 
than the wild vagaries and senseless ravings of the 
fanatical Hammond. Still Mr. Moody is either in 
ignorance of the "full orbed'' gospel, or else he 
deems himself justified in suppressing for the pres- 
ent a part of the truth, in order to secure the effi- 
cient and zealous co-operation of those denomina- 
tions that would promptly turn upon him if he should 
assail too radically their cherished tenets. We dis- 
like to intimate even the possibility of such politic 
action in one who has much of the lion in his compo- 
sition, and possesses many of those qualifications 
that stamp one as a leader of men. But many of his 
published utterances are in such happy accord with 
the principles of the reformatory movement repre- 
sented in the religious world by the Disciples of 
Christ, that we can with difficulty believe that he 
stops short of a full knowledge of the truth. He 
may think, I would suggest, that as faith in Jesus is 
the root of the Christian religion, and as neither 
preachers nor people after so long groping in the 
murky atmosphere of creed-dom are "able to bear" 
a sudden translation from the metaphysics of mod- 
ern divinity to the translucent simplicity* of the 
ancient method of conversion, that he is justified 
in proclaiming a partial and scrappy gospel, which 
is, however, infinitely superior in point of intelli- 
gibility and rationality to the doctrines of evangelic 
<ial(?) schools. Mr. Moody must be aware, we would 
again suggest, that any> movement of a religious 



88 MOOB^ VEHSUS CHRIST 

character that wislies to secure the cooperation of 
the " orthodox '' bodies, must refrain from any direct 
attack upon their prejudices, principles and polities. 
Mr. Moody, therefore, from a selfish standpoint 
evinces generalship of no mean order, in being able 
to keep for so long a time the sectarian devil 
asleep, or if not sound asleep, from using its ter- 
rific teeth and cruel claws upon the chief operator 
and director of modern " orthodox " evangelization. 
Without doubt, we must conclude, knowing from 
sad experience the suspiciousness and inveterate 
animosity of the odium theologicum that Mr. Moody 
has been compelled to move very gingerly and deftly. 
He therefore steers clear of all embarrassing com- 
plications, and while using just enough mysticism to 
propitiate and disarm the clergy for whose collabor- 
ation he is solicitious, he goes boldly many steps in 
advance of their evangelical ( ? ) sentiments ! If you 
should doubt this, we shall ask you to contrast Mr. 
Moody's teachings as quoted by the learned Walsh 
with the standard authorities and revered preachers 
of the very sects that most enthusiastically endorse 
the Moody movement. I will make a few citations, 
and ask your thoughtful attention to them, and their 
utter irreconcilableness with much of the Moody 
theology. 

In the first place he does not regard the Word of 
God as " an assemblage of dead types,'' but admits 
that it is "quick" (alive) and powerful, sharper than 
a two-edged sword, • • • and is a discerner of the 
thoughts^ and intents of the heart J^ In the next place 
he more than once intimates that faith is the belief 



AND HIS APOSTLES. 89 

of a proposition sustained by evidence^ rather than 
an infusion or divine coercion or '^ grace imparted 
to a passive soul incapable of excitement by mo- 
tives." 

And while in other instances his mind is clouded 
and he appears to refer the exercise of faith to Om- 
nipotent power, he yet clearly teaches that such 
faith is available to every one without exception 
who seeks it. Many of Mr. Moody's clerical backers 
teach that faith is the gift of God, not as our bread 
and clothes are the gifts of God, but in the sense 
that it is a supernatural and extra scriptural impar- 
tation. They teach, if language can convey an idea, 
that it cannot be acquired by the exercise of our intel- 
lectual or moral power^ and, consequently, that an 
unbeliever will not be condemned for lack of faith, 
but for Adam's sin in its direful effects upon all 
posterity. They teach that faith comes directly 
from heaven and is an entity or substance thrust 
directly into the mind by the Holy Spirit which 
makes the man anew in the twinkling of an eye and 
gives him " another reason and another will." This 
quoted clause is from Martin Luther's sermon on 
**The Method and Fruits of Justification." The 
Calvinistic portion of Mr. Moody's clerical backers 
believe with Dr. Breckinridge {vide ^^ Knowledge of 
God," Vol. II., pp. 156, 157), that "the work of 
Divine renovation is a sovereign act of the Creator, 
wherein those sinful persons of the human race, who 
will inherit eternal life [the elect] are renewed in the 
image of God," and that as we have been created 
anew in Christ Jesus, therefore saving faith mani- 



9ft MOODY YERSUS CHRIST 

fests itself in US.'' The. Methodistic part of his co- 
laborers unhesitatingly reecho the declaration of 
Dr. Olin that " the great proofs on which the gospel 
relies are demonstrations made to the moral percep- 
tions of man, and are altogether independent of 
logic," of persuasive appeals, or even of Sank ey 
singing.'" '' Even," continues this able Methodist- 
divine, " the prelhninary evidences and influences of 
the gospel are of this sort." A man cannot 
make the faintest beginning, the slightest for- 
ward movement in the matter of salvation un- 
aided by influences which are in every sense 
apart from the word, apart from his fellow-men, 
apart from himself. " The true light," he continues, 
'' shines into all hearts," not through the Bible, nor 
even through the example and instructions of good 
men illumined by the Spirit, but " directly fnom 
God." See his discourse . on "jPai^/i m Christ the 
Great Want of the SoulP That Mr. Moody does not 
swallow all this stale and vapid nonsense is evident 
from the citations made by Bro. Walsh, but that 
his perceptions are clear, and that he is completely 
out of the smoke of Babylon cannot be claimed by 
any one after reading the Doctor's masterly essay. 
Still his condition of mind is hopeful and we regard 
his sermons as pioneer drops through the sectarian 
dam that will eventually lead off stagnant waters to 
the great ocean of truth that tosses its white arms 
in the rapture of freedom. We do not believe that 
Mr. Moody's "preaching support" approve all his 
utterances ; indeed, a keen observer can see a faint 
§tir at times in the sleeping camp, but as they hope to. 



AND HIS APOSTLES. * 91 

reap the benefits of his popularity in a substantial 
numerical and pecuniary increment, they '' gulp '^ 
down the rising anathema and extend a seemingly 
cordial endorsement to their indefatigable brother. 
Mr. Moody's evident lack of careful theological 
training, his frequent deferential references to their 
superior learning, his avowed Avant of acquaintance 
with the original languages of the sacred records- 
nay, his very solecisms of speech, and, above all, 
his point-blank refusal to be considered a "rever- 
end," but only a lay-talker : — all these things are in 
his favor, and prevent the up-springing of jealous 
rivalry. 

Another element of power is his careful manipu- 
lation of his ministerial help. He calls upon the 
pastors of the wealthy and powerful churches of the 
community to take such conspicuous action in the 
introductory exercises, or in the overflow meetings 
or enquiry -room operations, as either commits them 
to the movement with zealous advocacy, or shuts 
the mouth firmly to invidious criticism. The ques- 
tion may be asked^ If Moody's success is attribut- 
able to the various causes you have recounted, 
prominently among them being that of a fuller but 
still defective presentation of the Primitive Gospel, 
why should not able and earnest men who discard 
all creeds of human devisement, and who give 
apostolical answers to inquiring penitents, and who 
preach the old faith without adulteration, addition or 
subtraction, — why should not these proclaimers have 
an equal measure of success with Moody? Princi- 
pally because in the present untaught and preju- 



62 MOODY TEESUS CHRIST 

diced condition of the public religious mind, the re* 
suit of ages of training in the metaphysics of Au- 
gustinian divinity, the immediate restoration of the 
ancient order of things is too radical, revolutionary 
and overwhelmingly subversive not to arouse a tide 
of prejudice, bigotry and opposition that cannot be 
successfully stemmed. There is not a particle of 
doubt that Knowles Shaw had every element of a 
great Evangelist to an extent and richness that 
cannot be claimed for Moody by his most enthusi- 
astic admirer. Indeed Shaw was Moody and Sankey 
both. And yet he created scarce a tithe of the 
excitement and stir in the religious world effected 
by Moody and his singing partner. 

We do not underrate Mr. Moody's natural gifts, they 
are more than mediocre — ^they are very respectable. 
He has a grand use of the sturdy Saxon stock of 
our noble tongue, and can use it as graphically as 
Bunyan, the heavenly dreamer, or Defoe, of Crusoe 
and Friday memory. 

Another source of Moody's power is this: Al- 
though the Bible is to him without system, and all 
Dispensations the same — insomuch that we verily 
believe he would a« lief go to the Proverbs of Solo- 
mon or to Genesis for directions how to enter Christ 
or to reclaim a back-slider as to the four " gospels '^ 
or to the epistles of the New Testament — yet it 
cannot be denied that he evinces extraordinary 
familiarity with the sacred oracles in this hodge- 
podge way. He is a man of one book emphatically, 
and therefore equipped and formidable. Well, says 
some caviller, are not all educated ministers thor- 



AND HIS APOSTLES. 03 

oughly informed in the scriptures? We hate to dis- 
sipate so pleasant a delusion, but to the best of our 
knowledge and belief, we have encountered several 
D.D.'s who knew almost everything else better than 
the Bible ! And we are thoroughly convinced that 
the National Sunday-school lessons have been the 
means of giving the average minister throughout 
the country a better knowledge of the Bible than his 
entire seminary training and his pulpit career after- 
wards. Ministers were everywhere busy reading 
and studying about the Bible instead of going at once 
to the fountain-head. To teach their Bible-classes 
and superintend their Sunday-schools or answer 
questions likely to be propounded by their flocks, 
they have been forced to go of late years to the 
great source of spiritual enlightenment and power. 
This Mr. Moody has always done. The Bible is to him 
a great reality — it is the book, the only book from 
which to learn religion or ascertain the will of God. 
This reverence for it and this ready reference to it as 
the arbiter of doubts and theresolver of difficulties, 
even though many of his interpretations may be 
exceedingly lame, together with his rare facility in 
apt illustration bearing upon the sympathies and 
necessities of his hearers, give him wonderful power 
with the masses of men over whose humble headSj as a 
general thing, the critical and polished products of 
the seminaries had been firing their ineffectual vol- 
leys for "lo, these many years.'' A sermon had 
become a popular synonym for learned dulness. All 
living questions were relegated to the fireside, the 
forum or the press — but all devitalized abstractions 



Q4 MOODY YERSUS CHRIST 

were deemed suitable to the pulpit. If a minister 
could be understood, it was self-evident that he had 
mistaken his calling, and was making use of a per- 
spicacious "carnal mind'' in solemn investigations. 
Indeed he was at once suspected of profaneness, 
and requested by the pillars and sleepers of the 
dunciad to examine himself, in order to ascertain the 
ground of a confidence placed in such imminent jeop- 
ardy by fleshly perspicuity! 

Thank God that day is past ! Men are now striving 
in their pulpit ministrations to be understood. And 
Mr. Moody has contributed wonderfully to this 
beneficent revolution. You cannot mistake his 
meaning whether you agree with him or not. His 
sermons may, in some particulars, occasionally clash, 
but you will carry off the idea that is uppermost in 
his mind at the time. We do not hesitate to affirm, 
that if Mr. Moody's career does nothing more than 
open the eyes of the preachers to the fact, that sim- 
ple, homely speech, abundantly illustrated, will 
accomplish more than fine-spun rhetoric or ponder- 
ous logic, it will not have been in vain. 

As Dr. Walsh has shown, Mr. Moody sometimes 
inveighs against " dead creeds," but with '' evangeli- 
cal" cunning, he is careful not to call names, leav- 
ing it to the Methodist brother, iii his hearty to apply 
the remark to the Presbyterians and Congregation- 
alists or Baptists, while each of these parties is not 
backward in making a different application of so 
general and diffuse a denunciation. Mr. Moody never 
attacks those denominations that are securely en- 
.trenched in popular regard, and fortified within 



AND HIS APOSTLES. 95 

palatial churches and splendid colleges. He recog- 
nizes the fact that he holds public attention and 
sympathy largely through their tolerance and encour- 
agement, and hence, when he has any bottles of 
wrath to uncork, that he may play the role of a virtu- 
ous censor in the religious world, he slurs the tenets 
of some comparatively poor and weak Denomination, 
whose opposition may not be able to diminish the 
rising tide of his influence. If he were 07ice openly 
and boldly to declare, as Dean Stanley has lately 
said, that immersion is the primitive action of bap- 
tism ; if he were publicly to declare what he knows 
full well that there is no Scripture warrant for the 
baptism of unconscious babes ; if he were to point 
out the evils of creeds as bonds of union and com- 
munion ; if he were to direct attention to the incon- 
sistency of the Protestant world to their funda- 
mental principle, "the Bible, and the Bible alone the 
religion of Protestants ; " if he were to direct the 
attention of his audience to the fact that baptism in 
ancient times occupied the position now claimed by 
the "mourners' bench " or " anxious seat,'' a posi- 
tion admitted by the greatest lights in the Evan- 
gelical (?) fold; if he were to assert what has been 
admitted time and time again by the greatest names 
in the ranks of Protestantism that in the Early 
Church the Christians met every Lord's-day prima- 
rily to break the emblematic loaf; if he were to lift 
up an eloquent voice in favor of genuine Christian 
union, not upon some skim-milk sentimental basis, 
but upon the clear-cut teachings of the Divine Word — 
why^ in less than a week^ Mr. Moody's clerical body- 



96 MOODY TEKSrS CHRIST 

guard would collapse like Prof. Wise's balloon, and 
none of those so unctuously and ostentatiously defer- 
ential to him now, would be '* so poor as to do him 
reverence.'' Indeed, in a month's time, he would find 
himself scarcely able to stir a ripple in a village, 
much less to set cities and continents ablaze. Xow 
and then with gospel giiile and evangelical crafti- 
nes (?) he throws, like Eneas of old, a soporific honey- 
cake to the watchful Cerberus of sect, whose teeth 
begin to shine menacingly between parting lips, and 
whose subdued growls show that danger is near, when 
in the ardor of his appeals to those who are hanging 
back waiting for electric thrills from the skies, to 
let them know that their debt is paid, he talks too 
freely that heretical doctrine, that '• faith comes by 
hearing and hearing by the word of God." He 
hastens to placate the incipient tempest, by sneering 
at baptism as a work of law, and declaring his readi- 
ness to go forth as a savior, if '• Baptism as a condi- 
tion of the remission of sins " be true, armed with a 
wooden water-bucket and, we suppose, a broom to 
scatter the *• regenerating fluid." Xay more, he is wil- 
ling, without doubt, to '• run down " the refractory and 
the recalcitrant who will not be "baptized'' by the 
agency of the aforesaid bucket and broom, and "bap- 
tize " them " nolus bolus," as a colored minister once 
said. Xay, such is the frantic nature of his zeal, if 
" baptism be anything at all," that he will lie in wait 
for the unwary, and when slumber softly seals the 
vigilant eye and locks the attentive ear, he will steal 
to the side of his unsuspecting "victim" and "bap- 
tize " him whether or no ! Shade of Ignatias Lloyola 
and his mighty squirt-gun! Upon what meat hath 



AND HIS APOSTLES. 97 

Caesar Moody fed that he is able to project such 
mighty and valorous feats ! 

Let him patiently and reverently consult the follow- 
ing j^ertmc'/i^ passages, and he may possibly regret his 
irrelevant and impertinent twaddle upon a subject 
with which he is evidently, however great his knowl- 
edge of the book in many other respects, utterly 
ignorant. Matt. 28: 18-20; Mark 16:l(j; John 3: 
5; Acts 2:38; Acts 8:12; Titus 3:5; Eom. G: 3, 
4, 5; Col. 2:12, 13; Eom. 6:18; Gal. 2: 2G, 27; 
Eom. 7:4; Eph. 2: 11-193. It is appropriate just 
here to inquire briefly into the reason for tlie tardi- 
ness exhibited by people now-a-days in ''obeying the 
truth.'' Why do not multitudes inquire as they did 
at Pentecost, '' What must we do V and hasten at 
once to do the things commanded and rejoice imme- 
diately in hope of the glory of God ? Because modern 
preaching is, in general, utterly unlike that employed 
in the early days of the Church, and because it has 
been sedulously and catechetically drilled into men 
through centuries in which mysticism held full sway 
that one cannot receive God's truth through natural 
channels as he receives other truth, but that he must 
^^meet Jesus" or '' find Jesus " in some mysterious, 
inexplicable and unintelligible way — the evidence of 
said "finding" being, usually, the instantaneous roll- 
ing off of a huge burden of oppressive " convictions," 
and the inflashing of a marvelous illumination, fol- 
lowed by the lightning-like extrication of the ^'sub- 
ject" from the slough of a fearful despondency in 
which each and every one thus operated upon was 
impressed with the firm and indubitable conviction, 



98 MOODY YERSUS CHRIST 

(wrought, it is assumed, by the Spirit of all truth) that 
he was, beyond all peradventure, the wickedest man 
that ever lived or ever would live, the annihilation of 
evil appetites and passions killed at one stroke, root 
and branch, and the immediate realization of peace 
and spiritual power beyond expression. 

Mr. Moody, then, by the skilful avoidance of attack 
upon sectarian shibboleths and by playing into the 
hands of the ruling Denominations secures either 
their active advocacy for or their passive acqui- 
escence in his methods. The appro^batory presence 
and participation of the shepherds secure the at- 
tendance and moral support of the flocks, of the 
religious papers, and largely of the secular press. 

Many ministers Avho disapprobate Mr. Moody^s 
caterings to popular prejudices and errors, see that 
he is nevertheless far in advance of the creed-mon- 
gers and tradition-worshippers of the times, and, for 
the sake of the improvement, however slight, refrain 
from all determined opposition and watch the out- 
come of the movement with hope. If the result shall 
be that even in the far future men shall break away 
from the chilling restraints of Calvinism — from the 
senseless mummery of baptismal regeneration, or 
from the lawless latitudinarianism of Universalism 
and return in a measure to the faith once delivered 
to the saints, they will realize that their patience has 
wrought its perfect work. We may as well just here, 
summarize that simple but perfect scriptural teach- 
ing: (a) "The Bible accepted as an aZ^ si^^ci^w^ rul& 
of faith and practice ; (b) Christ the Savior of the 
world — at once prophet, Priest, King, Mediator, 



AND HIS APOSTLES. 99 

Judge ; (c) Sah'ation found in obedience to the law and 
authority of Christ, and not in obedience to the law 
of Moses or to the law of councils or to the decretals 
of Popes ; (d) The authority of Christ and the con- 
ditions of salvation found in the Apostolical Commis- 
sion ; (e) Sinners come to Christ or '^find Jesus'' or 
" meet Jesus " through knowledge of the truth and 
through the ''obedience of faith'' as invariably and 
explicitly proclaimed by the apostles and evangelists 
of the Kew Testament ; (f) All who approach Christ — 
whoever 'has heard and has learned of the Father' 
— approach him as the Great Mediator between God 
and man ; (g) They confess their sins, and openly avow 
their sincere faith in Christ as the Son of God ; (h) 
As an evidence of their faith in Jesus the Christ they 
at 07icejoyfiiUy submit to be " buried with Christ in 
baptism," an act of supreme obedience which at 
once inducts them into the kingdom of God, and 
therefore into a state of justification (John 3:5; Gal. 
3 : 27) ; (i) The promise of God to all such is, that 
they shall receive the gift of the Spirit (Acts 2 : 38 
and 3 : 19), who shall, if they do not " quench " Him 
"abide with them forever ; " (j) They are "adopted" 
into the family of God, and become "partakers ox 
the divine natiire^^^ not instantly or miraculously but 
gradually and in j^erfect harmony with the laws 0£ 
mind, after having been "begotten by the word oi 
truth" (1. Pet. 1: 23), and "made alive to God" the 
Father through birth from the baptismal grave (Eom. 
6 : 3, 4 ; Col. 2 : 12, 13 ; Col. 3:1); (k) As such, it is neces- 
sary to unite with a congregation of Christians, with 
the view of keeping the ordinances of the church, 



100 MOODY VERSUS CHRIST 

reading the word of the Lord, prayer, the weekly 
observance of the Lord's supper, contributing for 
the poor saints '' having fruit with holiness, and the 
end eternal life/' 

One source of Moody's power is the companion- 
ship and collaboration of Sankey, who is a "sweet 
soloist, and in tripping measures tickles the sensibil- 
ities of the pious public, and deftly sets the mysteries 
and solemnities of religion to a chirrup.'' There is a 
deal of the emotional and the sentimental in his 
singing, and he loads current piety with much sweet- 
ish nonsense, but then it cZrair^, and, therefore, in the 
view of modern revivalism, pays. In the ages to 
come, when pious musical antiquaries of reverential 
turn of mind shall delve into the hymnic records of 
the past, great will be their astonishment to unearth 
such warlike ditties as *'Hold the Fort, for I am 
Coming," and to learn from the chronicles of a remote 
era that thousands professed to ''find Jesus," or to 
have their lapsed peace renewed while bawling that 
belligerent melody. 

After all, the greatest secret of the wonderful 
power brought into modern revivalism by Mr. Moody, 
is the positive iteration and reiteration by him that 
there need be no uncertainty in the matter of salva- 
tion from sin — that rest, security, safety may be real- 
ized in every ca^c, and that immediately. The long and 
dubious seekings of former evangelizing movements 
are discarded, and inquirers are instructed that the 
moment they are conscious of faith in Christ, they 
need go no further in frantic efforts "to do Some 
great thing," or obtain some testimonial of animpres- 



AND HIS APOSTLES. 103 

sive extra-scriptural iiature. '' You are, then,^^ says Mr. 
Moody, "in a saved state at ojice^^ — the ^' Boole sars 
so, and its testimony is infinitely superior to your 
variable animal feelings '' or exacerbated mental 
states. This is a great advance upon the old plan, 
which was to work up excitement studiously and art- 
fully, with every appliance of ecclesiastical and evan- 
gelical (?) ingenuity, until nature, in order to preserve 
both mind and body, came to the rescue with a health- 
ful reaction to the tensely-drawn nervous systems and 
p^eternaturally excited imaginations of weak and 
unfortunate auditors. This letting dozen of long-con- 
tinued and destructive excitement was universally 
hailed by a bigoted and benighted orthodox clergy as 
a direct response to prayer, and a regenerative move- 
ment of God's spirit upon that of the blind and fanat- 
ical devotee. 

Another source of Moody's power is the wiping 
out of sect divisions and partitions for the time 
being. True, they are not annihilated, but kept from 
prudential reasons in rigid abeyance, yet the effect 
upon the multitudes who flock to hear Moody, of a 
spirit of brotherly cooperation and concord and 
apparent fraternity is good, and the results flattering. 
Oh, what would be the blessed consequences to the 
world of the utter demolition and expungement of 
carnalizing divisions and the presentation to a sinful, 
dying race of a United Church, not having spot or 
wrinkle or any such thing, but grand in the simple 
majesty of truth, '' fair as the moon, clear as the 
sun, and terrible as an army with banners," all its 
individual members, in such important matters as the 



102 MOODY VERSUS CHRIST 

means of laying hold of tlie blood of the Just One, 
speaking the same things and joined together in the 
same judgments ! Few are so hardened or so infat- 
uated at this late day as to contend for sectism with 
its infernal jealousies and despiritualizing rivalries, 
on the ground of wholesome competitive heat and 
salutary emulative fire ! And the distinction between 
the oppressive oneness of Mediaeval Eomanism, 
wrought by finesse, force, fear and fagot in an age of 
dense darkness, and a oneness brought about by 
loyalty to truth, and voluntarily sought and accepted 
by free spirits and loving, longing hearts, is recog- 
nized by all minds save those so saturated and obfus- 
cated by narrow bigotry and proscriptive intolerance 
as to be entirely beyond the reach of enlightenment. 
I, therefore, give Mr. Moody all praise and honor to 
the extent of his departure from the doctrines of 
the mystics, but I compassionate his adherence even 
yet to certain features of their theology, from which 
the religious world will be compelled to break away 
before substantial progress and a universal dissem- 
ination and domination of Christian principles can be 
safely counted on. ]S'ay, through ignorance, or the 
inveteracy of prejudices ; or a misapplication of the 
Pauline doctrine of ''becoming all things to all 
men '' he twists, warps, and even wilfully suppresses 
portions of Divine Truth because their enunciation 
would flatly contradict and destroy the symmetry of 
Ms partial and imperfect system. If he ever quotes 
in his enquiry meetings such passages of Scripture as 
Mark xvi : 16, or Acts ii : 38, or Acts iii : 19, or John iii : 
3, or Eom. vi : 3, 4, or Acts xxii ; 16, or Gal. iii : 27, or 



AND HIS APOSTLES. 103 

Titus iii : 5, or L Pet- iii: 21, or a host of passages to 
wMch the writer cannot for lack of space refer, we do 
not know it. Nor do the frequent, solemn and re- 
spectful allusions of Holy Writ to Baptism as a part 
of the Gospel^ and not as an ordinance within the 
Ohurch awaken any notice save a flippant, sarcastic 
or contemptous one- Even if it were, which is by 
no means admitted, one of the least commandments 
of our Savior and not the initiatory rite of the New 
Dispensation ; the ceremony of enlistment in the 
army of the cross, the " sacramental host of God's 
elect;" — the method of induction into the church of 
the living God, the ground and pillar of the truth; — 
the impressive espousal of the wooed and won sin- 
ner to the Head of the church ; — he that alludes to 
it contemptuously and teaches men to neglect it, 
though he be in many respects, seemingly, a great 
and good man, will be '' called least in the Kingdom 
of Heaven.'' I would have Mr. Moody to remember 
that as Abraham desired to knoic that God's verbal 
promise to him would be assuredly kept, and the 
same was, in consequence, formally ratified by the 
blazing lamp passing between the divided parts of 
the sacrificial offering — God thus meeting him, and, 
as it were, reassuring him, and bolstering, in tender 
XQcrcy, his weak and tottering faith by a mutual cove- 
nant and a visible, striking pledge, — so baptism is an 
act in which the interior or psychical states are 
translated into open speech, or 'brought out of doors^ 
the whole man in mind, heart and body, participating 
in an '' act of faith," to which memory will ever recur 
in coming years as a grand moment of entire conse- 



104 MOODY VERSUS CHRIST 

cration, when the weak human subject received, as 
it were, a token, or pledge, or handshake of plighted 
troth and unswerving fidelity from the other Party to 
the great and blessed compact. I have used the 
term " mysticism,'' more than once in the course of 
this article. Lest the reader might not gather from 
the connection the full sense in which I employ it, I 
will close with a condensed statement of that sys- 
tem so far as its vague and shadow tenets can be 
formulated in human speech. 

For a further and more complete knowledge of 
the system we would refer the reader to the " Or- 
ganon of Scripture '' by J. S. I^amar, a work worthy 
of a place in every library in Christendom. I would 
also invite attention to a scholarly article in the 
Christian Quarterly of April, 1872.. Without further 
ado we place before the reader the leading features^ 
of the conflicting systems, asking that he will glance 
at one and then the other, that his faith may not 
stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of 
God: 

"MYSTICISM'' 

Is the doctrine of direct or immediate spiritual in- 
fluence ; assuming that man by birth, nature, and 
habit is totally depraved^ so depraved that he is 
utterly unable to use any intellectual or moral power 
for his conversion, until God enables him to do so 
by direct influence, and this direct influence results 
in Regeneration. The mind being thus illuminated,^^ 
the moral sensibilities being aroused, and the will 
impelled, man exercises faith in God and Christy 
believes the truth to the saving of his soul. 



AND HIS APOSTLES. 105 

Mysticism declares that man is passive, and pub- 
lishes to the world that passivity is orthodoxy, activ- 
ity is heterodoxy — that '' doing is a deadly thing.'' 

It conceives that the grace of God is a mystic,, 
divine intluence moving upon the spirit of man, and 
exciting him to action; that just as God breathed 
upon the automatic Adam in Eden, and the lifeless 
red earth became a living soul, so God breathes upon 
the automatic sinner, and he becomes a living soul in 
Christ, and then believes in the Son of God. 

**INTELLECTUALISM, BIBLICISM OR APOS-^ 

TOLICISM'' 

Is the doctrine of mediate, spiritual intluences; con- 
tending that man, by birth and nature^ is not totally 
depraved, but may become so by habit. It defends 
the apostolic thesis, '' Faith comes by hearing, and 
hearing by the word of God." 

It humbly acknowledges its inability to devi3e a. 
plan of salvation, but rejoices in the moral ability 
possessed by the mind to accept the plan of Christ- 
It sits with Mary at the Master's feet, and learns 
wisdom from his lips. It communes with Peter as 
he discourses to the Jews on Pentecost; with Paul 
as he reasons concerning the Christ at Thessaloniea. 
It will not consent to be passive, but thinks, feels, 
and wills as God, by His sjyirit in the Apostles^ gives 
direction. It conceives that the grace of God has 
appeared unto all men in the proclamation of the 
gospel; that the gospel is the grace of God, and the 
power of God unto salvarton to all who receive with 
meekness the engrafted word. 



106 MOODY VERSUS CHRIST 

It is, in fine, reason not proudly or arrogantly dis- 
carding the help of revelation, and questioning the 
winds, the stars or the rocks, but reason hearing God 
«peak, reason believing the things spoken of God, 
reason invoking the affections to so love God as to 
prefer His service to the dominion of bestial lusts and 
l^ropensities, reason invoking, provoking, deter- 
mining and strengthing the feeble will to obey with 
fidelity Him whose lawful, indefeasible right it is to 
reign in and over us the creatures of His hands.'' 
Eead carefully Bro. Walsh's book, and may it be a 
means used of God to combat hydra-headed error 
and to lead blinded and befogged men to a clearer 
knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus, to whom be 
praise, world without end, Amen. 



Mmmw 


■ 

—ON THE- 


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EVIDENCES, 



OR, 



Masterpieces of Many Minds 



By J. W. MONSER. 



IN COURSE OF PREPARATION. 



The author of this book has felt for many years past, 
that such a work is sorely needed. There are only a few 
private libraries that are so well stocked with choice 
authorities, as to enable the owners to range at will 
through the vast and multitudious lines of argumenta- 
tion offered upon matters pertaining to God, Man and 
Destiny. Xor does time allow this liberty unto any but 
the devoted scholar. And yet it is by this course only 
that the harmonies of evidence are manifested, the 
strength of the Christian apologetics set forth, and the 
faith of the believer universally confirmed. The streams 
of truth flowing in from a thousand sources, fill up the 
joyous well of his salvation. 

Impressed with this fact, by a personal experience, 
which has been both a health and a delight, the writer 
has spared no pains to secure everything which could 
assist him in his laborious undertaking. The publisher, 
therefore, takes pleasure in offering to the public an 
"Encyclopedia on the Evidences,'' in which the following 
themes are amply treated, to-wit : " God," " Creation/' 



** Design," '* Science and Eeligion," ''Miracles," "Provi- 
dence," ^^ Moral Evil," ^'Man," "The Bible," "Infidelity," 
"Christ and Christianity," "Immortality and the Eesur- 
rection," " Eetribution." 

These chapters are made up of the very best things 
that the literary, the scientific, the rationalistic and the 
religious have said, in anywise favorable to truth, and 
contains the choicest paragraphs and sections possible,. 
of affirmation, criticism, exegeses, and eulogy. Xor are 
the authors cut off in the midst of a good thing. Some 
quotations extend over ten or even fifteen pages: some 
over but two, three, five : some but over a page, or half a 
page — depending entirely on the merit or need of the 
thought treated. Almost every favorite idea and argu- 
ment that has been ringing in the ears of generations of 
men, will be found here, besides the very latest utter- 
ances. from the French, German, English and American 
schools of thought. 

We intend this book to comprehend, at a glance, aU 
that is needed; and that from the established authorities 
of the world. It is prepared to subdue Infidels, heal 
doubters,' convert sinners, and strenglhen the hands and 
hearts of saints. It enters the field, so far as we know, 
without a rival, and we invoke God's benison upon it. 



It is expected to reach from 600 to 700 pages, and 

will be handsomely bound in Cloth, Library, 

and Turkey Morocco, Full Gilt. 



AGENTS WANTED. 

ST. LOUIS, MO. 



JUiT OUT, 



1 



-OF- 



Christian Evidence. 



By LAURENCE W. SCOTT. 



WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT IT: 

A HAND BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. By Laurexce W. 
Scott. In two parts. St. Louis, John Bums, Publisher, 1880. 12ino. 
pp. 310. Price $1.50. 

Bro. Scott has given his time and his heart to this subject for many 
years, and has had an opportunity to test his positions and arguments 
in numerous debates witli unbelievers. He has succeeded in present- 
ing the standard e\idences of Christianity in a condensed form, yet 
with clearness and freshness ; and has added to this a good deal that 
relates to some of the more modern phases of infidelity. Spiritism 
comes in for a severe handling. It is a very readable book, contains 
much valuable historical matter, and has the advantage of presenting 
all this in small space, so that ordinary readers will not be repulsed by 
the size of the book or tediousness of the argument, In these days of 
doubt, the more people can be persuaded to read such books the bet- 
ter. We hope it will have a large sale. 

The publisher deserves honorable mention for the neatness and 
taste displayed in the arrangement and mechanical execution of the 
work. — laaac E7TeU, 



Bro. Laurence W, Scott's new book on Christian Evidence is out and 
the Messenger has received a copy. It is a neatly bound volume of 300 
pages, and is quite well written. We hesitate not to say that it will be 



of great benefit to any of our preachers, or members to become famil- 
iar with the contents of this book. Bro. Scott has written in a pleasant 
style, and it will not wesLvy you to read what he has said. As a scribe 
well versed in the law, he brings out of the treasure, things new and 
old, and gives us a taste of both ancient and modern infidelity. Send 
for the book. John Burns, publisher, St. Louis, Mo. Price $1.50. — 
Christian Messenger^ Texas, 



At a time like the present, it is extremely desirable to have, if 
possible, a compendious summary at hand of the main proofs of 
Christianity. An honest and manly attempt to supply this need has 
been made in A Hand-Book of Christian Evidence^ by the Eev. Laurence 
W. Scott. The line of argument is more than able ; it is really grand. 
It is followed up, moreover, with lively eloquence, noble bravery, and 
stout ability, such as are worthy of all praise. The whole is the result 
of a vast deal of reading and splendid common sense, coupled with a 
masculine skill in speaking to men. Taken altogether, or even in 
either one of its two parts, it is unanswerable, or even unassailable, as 
a vindication of the Christian faith. — Sunday School Times, 



A Hand-Book of Christian Evidence'^ By Laurence W. Scott, the man 
who completely routed the imported champion of infidelity in Paris, 
Texas, more than four years ago. We have not yet read the book, but 
if he handles his subject as well as he did Dr. Stine, of Kansas, the 
lovers of truth all over the land will purchase the book and still owe 
the author a debt of gratitude, which they will be more ready to 
acknowledge than able fully to pay. Sold by agents. Address John 
Burns, publisher, 717 Olive street, St. Louis, Mo. — Texas Baptist, 



St. Louis, February 9, 1880. 
Dear Brother — Allow me to thank you for the copy of Brother Scott's 
work, A Hand-Book of Christian Evidence. It is a valuable publication 
and will greatly fortify and strengthen those of our workers whose 
unfortunate lot it is to have to labor in communities disturbed by foul 
infidel w^anglings and quibblings. The matter of the book is judicious 
and the manner hearty and manly. I congratulate you on the mechan- 
ical execution of the work and the author on the shining success of 

his maiden eflbrt in the theological field. 

JosErH H. FoY, 

Pastor Central Chin^ntian Churchy St. Louis., Mo. 



JOHN BURNS, Publisher, 

717 Olive Street, .... ST. LOUIS, MO. 



NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARY (The). 

By W. K. Pendleton, W. T. Moore, C. L. Loos, J. W. M'Garvey, Isaacs 
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gaurse o/ Preparation) . When completed to consist of eleven volumes, 
three volumes now ready. 
MATTHEW AND MARK, ... By Prof. J. W. M'GARVEY. 

LUKE, By J. S.LAMAR. 

HEBREWS, By President R. MILLIGAN. 

The text used, same as Bagster's Critical English New Testament. Each 
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The Christian System, in reference to the Union of Christians and a Resto- 
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The Polymathist. A work containing Essays on Pastoral Work; Scriptural 
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VOICE OF THE SEVEN THUNDERS. 

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Walks about Jemsalem. A Search after the Landmarks of Primitivp 
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COMMENTARY ON ACTS OF APOSTLES. 

With a revised version of the text. By J. W. McGarvev. This work has 
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WILKES' TRACT ON PRAYER. 

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UNION WITH CHRIST. 

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